Over the past week, law enforcement officials rescued 168 children sold into the sex trade and arrested 281 alleged pimps in an annual nationwide sweep, the FBI announced Monday.

The rescues and arrests took place coast to coast in 106 cities during the weeklong initiative, which targeted truck stops, casinos, online dating or escort services and metro areas populated by strip clubs and pornography stores.

"These are not faraway kids in faraway lands," FBI Director James Comey said, according to CBS News. "These are our children. On our streets. Our truck stops. Our motels. These are America's children."

A number of victims were in the child welfare system before they went missing, said John Ryan, president and CEO of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which partnered with the FBI. However, many of the rescued children were never reported missing.

This is the eighth time the FBI has coordinated a nationwide sex-trafficking crackdown, known as Operation Cross Country. It involved 54 FBI field divisions.

"Operation Cross Country reveals that children are being targeted and sold for sex in America every day," Ryan said, reports USA Today.

The operation is part of a larger yearly effort that has identified and recovered around 3,400 sexually exploited children, the FBI said. The operation has led to 1,450 convictions, 14 life prison terms and the seizure of over $3.1 million in assets.

Comey talked about the growing concern of children being prostituted online.

"Many of these children have been abandoned, often abused and neglected. Many of these traumatized children run away because they believe it's the best option for them," Ryan said.

"There is no more meaningful work that the FBI participates in than rescuing children," Comey said.