Pearl River County, Mississippi, is part of the greater New Orleans metropolitan area, and is located approximately 45 miles from New Orleans, Hattiesburg, and Gulfport–Biloxi. The county has a population of about 57,000 residents. Picayune is the largest city in the county. Prostitution activity has been well-documented in the city and surrounding communities, and in unincorporated areas of the county. On at least one occasion, local law enforcement has arrested a sex buyer and publicized their identity. In January 2018, Picayune Police Department detectives arrested a man after he allegedly contacted an undercover agent with the intent to exchange marijuana and liquid codeine for sex. A meeting was set up at a local business, and detectives and the undercover agent arrived at the meet point and then met with the 31-year-old suspect, who gave the undercover agent a substance suspected to be marijuana and a red liquid suspected to be codeine, as payment for sex. The detectives then moved in and took him into custody and searched his vehicle. The man was arrested for two counts of conspiracy to transfer a controlled substance within 1,500 feet of a church, two counts of transfer of a controlled substance within 1,500 feet of a church, possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute within 1,500 feet of a church, and soliciting prostitution. The suspect’s identity was included in the police news release.