Wells Branch is a census-designated place in Travis County, Texas. The population was estimated to be 12,50 in 2019. To combat prostitution and related crimes in the fall of 2017, the Travis County Sheriff’s Office focused on the unincorporated areas of Wells Branch with operations targeting credit card skimmers, illicit businesses, and prostitution. The initiative started October 8, 2017 and ran through November 17, during which police made 17 arrests of sex buyers, where undercover deputies met them at a Wells Branch motel.  Three of those cases resulted in felony arrests, because the men were soliciting sex with minors. The Travis County Sheriff’s Office said the “Wells Branch Initiative” came to be after deputies looked at crime data in the northeast area of the county. For six weeks, they targeted crimes including prostitution and credit card skimming, in particular. They conducted undercover prostitution stings at two hotels, using a female deputy.  The identities of the arrested sex buyers were publicly disclosed.