AI Becomes Latin America’s Most Powerful Tool in the Fight to Find Missing Children

As soon as a child’s data is entered into the search database, cameras connected to the platform become a reliable filter for locating missing children

The AI-based technology identifies children with an accuracy exceeding 90%, even in cases where their appearance has changed due to age

LATAM media are more and more frequently recognize AI as one of the most powerful tools in the fight against missing children and human trafficking issues.

We don’t ask where a child is from — Peruvian, American, it does not matter. If they are missing, we search for them”

— Giordano Polanco Correa, Public Safety Support Specialist (Lima, Peru)

ALEXANDRIA, VA, UNITED STATES, September 10, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Latin American media are more and more frequently recognize IREX.ai as one of the most powerful tools in the international fight against missing children and human trafficking issues — including those from the United States.

Over recent months, the IREX platform and its initiatives with missing children organizations - 'Operation Freedom' as one of the recent examples - have attracted major attention across Latin America, including coverage in:

- Peru: 'Perfil' reports how existing cameras are being repurposed into “instruments of hope” capable of locating children, including those trafficked across borders.
- Argentina: 'Informate Salta' shows cities across Argentina integrating AI surveillance under Operation Freedom to find missing children.
- Ecuador: 'EXTRA' highlights how Latin American cities are pioneering the use of AI in municipal surveillance cameras to locate missing children, with the international Operation Freedom initiative enabling rapid identification and safe recovery through existing urban infrastructure and cross-border cooperation.
- Chile: 'El Ilustrado' spotlights Operation Freedom's cross-border humanitarian impact.
- Colombia: 'En Colombia' covers how cities are initiating a new era in locating missing children by adapting existing municipal cameras with ethical AI under Operation Freedom.
- Nicaragua: 'La Nueva Radio YA' discussing the impact of AI on regional kidnaping problems.
- Regional (Latin America): – 'Ventas de Seguridad' notes industry recognition of Operation Freedom’s role in bringing ethical AI to missing-child searches.

By transforming existing city surveillance systems into proactive, life-saving networks, IREX is reshaping how municipalities protect their most vulnerable. Many media outlets across Latin America recognize the significant contribution of Computer Vision technology to public safety. For example, the crime rate in Peru's capital districts was reduced by 40% in just one year with the help of US-located IREX.ai.

Special emphasis is placed on the fact that the technology is capable of finding children regardless of their gender, age, nationality, citizenship, or search area. As soon as a child’s data is entered into the search database, cameras connected to the platform - working in tandem with artificial intelligence - become a reliable filter for locating missing children. As soon as the AI finds a match, local law enforcement authorities immediately receive a signal with the precise location of the child. In large cities, no more than 4-5 minutes could pass from the moment the signal is received until the child’s transfer into the safe hands of law enforcement.

The AI-based technology identifies children with an accuracy exceeding 90%, even in cases where their appearance has changed due to age. The IREX algorithms are capable of detecting patterns in a person’s physiognomy and successfully consider it across different ages. Such predictive analysis is virtually impossible for the human eye but computing by artificial intelligence in a fraction of a second.

What Latin American city municipalities particularly value is that the IREX AI platform does not require costly updates to CCTV infrastructure. The software platform works independently of the camera's brand/model and processes incoming video streams separately from this hardware. Not only does this eliminate the need for additional expenses, but it also saves millions of dollars for Latin American countries - which are not always wealthy - on unnecessary infrastructure modernization. Thus, municipalities can focus on what is most important - saving the futures of children and their families. It is something that many more developed and wealthy countries could learn from.

Voices from the field:

“We don’t ask where a child is from — Peruvian, American, it does not matter. If they are missing, we search for them,” said Giordano Polanco Correa, Public Safety Support Specialist for the Municipality of Miraflores (Lima, Peru).

“One of the first cases we handled was a missing child. The system detected the child on a municipal camera and triggered an alert. It saved a life,” said Rony Eduardo Vizarreta del Río, Operations Analyst for the Municipality of Miraflores.

Leadership Statement:

“Every child matters. This recognition demonstrates that ethical AI, when deployed responsibly, can save lives across borders,” said Daniel Eborall, Global Director at IREX. “It is also a testament to the success of these deployments that Latin American cities are now proactively searching for missing U.S. children who may have been trafficked. We are proud to see governments, communities, and media embrace this mission. Together, we are building a safer future.”

Commitment to the Future:

The problem of missing children in Latin America is widespread, highly complex, and driven by overlapping crises including violence, organized crime, migration, poverty, and weak institutional response. Hundreds of thousands of children are reported missing annually, but true numbers are likely higher due to significant underreporting and lack of reliable centralized databases. The problem also could be described as historical: the region has faced a persistent pattern of disappearances for many decades, deeply intertwined with political, civil and armed conflicts, social inequality, and organized crime.

IREX will continue scaling its impact across Latin America and globally, fostering collaboration with governments, municipalities, and NGOs. Under the banner of ‘Operation Freedom’, the company is committed to making every city an active participant in the mission to find and protect children.

About IREX

IREX.ai is a global leader in ethical AI video analytics with offices in Alexandria (Virginia), Murrieta (California) and Winter Haven (Florida), dedicated to transforming public safety with transparency, accountability, and measurable impact. Already active in cities worldwide, IREX integrates with existing cameras to deliver real-time alerts, advanced analytics, and case-ID logging — ensuring every deployment is grounded in oversight and purpose.

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Daniel Eborall
IREX.ai
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