Hidalgo County is located in southeastern Texas, that sits along the Rio Grande river, across from Reynosa, Mexico. The county seat is Edinburg and the largest city is McAllen. The county’s population is roughly 880,000. McAllen has a population of approximately 142,000.  Local law enforcement have reported problems with prostitution in the the McAllen area for many years, and residents and business owners have complained about commercial sex and its related crimes and disorder in some neighborhoods. Cases of targeted homicide of prostituted women have also been documented.

In an effort to address these issues, the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office and McAllen Police Department have conducted reverse stings since at least 2004. Operations have been conducted at both street level, using female undercover officers as decoys, and using online ads to initiate transactions. In March 2007 and April 2009, for example, MPD officers arrested a total of 11 sex buyers in two separate reversals. In more recent operations– conducted in October 2013, January 2015, October 2015, December 2015, and December 2017 — the department has conducted “dual” stings targeting both sex buyers and those who were sexually exploited. Following their arrests, all individuals charged with prostitution-related offenses may have their names, mugshots, and/or other identifying information publicized by local media outlets. In April 2019, a set of three sting and reverse sting operations resulted in the arrest of 10 men on prostitution charges and three for online solicitation of a minor during a law enforcement internet operation. The operations were a collaboration between McAllen police and Homeland Security Investigations. The identities of the arrested sex buyers were included in news releases.