ATLANTA — The Federal Bureau of Investigation reported Tuesday that from 2013 to 2022, more than 8,700 human trafficking incidents were reported.

According to data available for the past nine years, the number of reported incidents has increased sharply.

“Since 2013, the number of reported human trafficking incidents, offenses, and victims has increased,” the FBI said.

In the most recent year of data available, 2022, there were 2,378 reported human trafficking incidents.

Of those, the FBI said more than 4,500 happened in the South, or about 51.5% of all incidents in the United States.

Almost 60% of the cases in the South also involved drugs, the FBI reported.

An FBI spokesman said there were more than 1,600 cases under investigation right now. The most common groups that become victims of human trafficking are 13-to-19-year-olds.

“So overall, unfortunately, the South has the highest number of reported human trafficking incidents by local law enforcement over the last 10 years,” Jennifer Sellitto, from the FBI’s Atlanta Field Office, said.

The federal law enforcement agency said they want people to know this can happen to anyone, anywhere, and it’s happening all over the U.S.

“This isn’t a typical TV-type situation where people are getting kidnapped off the street. this is something that typically happens over time through coercion and manipulation this is more of a psychological abuse this is stemming from,” Selitto said.

The FBI has signs they say to look out for that might point to human trafficking. They include noticing when your kids start withdrawing from friends and their usual activities, when they have changes in their behavior, if you see signs of abuse, or if they come home with gifts like cell phones or designer clothes.

Sellitto said it’s also important to speak openly with your children, especially when it comes to how they use the internet.

“Be aware of what they are doing on their computer and social media. they could be talking to anybody and they think they are talking to someone their own age and they are talking to someone online and before they know it they are meeting up with that person,” Sellitto said.

In the most recent fiscal year, the FBI said they’d initiated 664 human trafficking cases and made 145 associated arrests, both of which were slightly less than the previous year.