Man arrested in New Hanover County accused of being involved in multi-state human trafficking

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — A man has been arrested in New Hanover County for allegedly being involved in a multi-state human trafficking operation.

Ryan Klinger, 48, was arrested in a coordinated operation involving law enforcement agencies from the FBI, New Hanover Country Sheriff’s Office, and Wilmington Police Department.

The task force says they received information from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division of a possible human trafficking situation that occurred in South Carolina that may have transitioned to Wilmington.

Klinger was located and a victim was recovered, the task force says. They say Klinger trafficked the victim across state lines from the West Coast to the East Coast in an RV.

The task force identified over 500 commercial sex advertisements in multiple states.  Klinger was taken into custody without incident and given no bond.