Youth pastor. High school teacher and football coach. And the COO of a major hospital chain.

They were among 46 men arrested this month for mass clandestine prostitution in Southlake and Frisco, local and federal authorities announced.

About a dozen law enforcement agencies were involved in the January 12 and 13 operation at the Hilton at Southlake Town Square and Hyatt hotels near the Stonebriar Center in Frisco. Authorities said the men arranged to meet online in hotels, intending to pay for sex.

Officials do not disclose the names of the detainees. The men face charges of solicitation of prostitution, a felony in Texas punishable by two years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

“When you think of Human Trafficking, you think of the streets of Dallas or Fort Worth or strip clubs,” said Agent John Perez, who oversees the North Texas Human Trafficking Task Force, part of the National Security Investigations Division. “But there’s a lot of demand in the suburbs.”

This is the second major commercial sex operation in suburban North Texas in recent months. Police arrested 23 people after investigating short-term rentals in Plano and Dallas.

In addition to the anti-trafficking task force, agencies included the Arlington, Colleyville, Dallas, Flower Mound, Frisco, Irving, and Midlothian Police Departments, the Collin County, Dallas, and Tarrant County Sheriff’s Departments, and the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office.

The operation coincided with the Department of Homeland Security Blue Campaign for Trafficking in Persons Prevention Month, which takes place in January.

“Victims of these heinous crimes are being treated like a commodity that is being used to make as much money as possible as quickly as possible,” Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Wayborn said in a statement. “Those who are victims of human trafficking are the scourge of the earth, and we will continue to pursue those who are responsible for human trafficking and those who extort sex from them.”

Awareness of human trafficking and sexual exploitation has increased significantly in recent years, fueled by several high-profile cases. Last year, a 15-year-old girl disappeared from a Dallas Mavericks game at the American Airlines Center and was found days later in Oklahoma City; three people were arrested on charges of human trafficking.

U.S. Senator John Cornyn, D-Tex., along with Minnesota Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar, wrote legislation to reauthorize the Human Trafficking Repeal Act, which provides law enforcement and social services tens of millions of dollars to fight sexual exploitation. The law went into effect earlier this month.

Connected:Police seized $7.5 million worth of marijuana hidden in cotton candy at the Texas border.