BOSTON -- A team of 17 FBI agents and plainclothes police officers descended on the Boston Marriott Long Wharf hotel on Friday as part of a nation-wide child prostitution sting, according to the Boston Globe.

Police officials told the paper that an undercover operation lead to the arrests of 5 women at the hotel who had agreed to provide sex for $300 an hour. The women ranged in age from 19 to 33, the paper reports.

The sting was part of a nation-wide Department of Justice program, dubbed “Operation Cross Country,” aimed at cracking down on child prostitution. The goal of the sweeps, being conducted in over 30 cities, is to target pimps, rescue juveniles, and gather intelligence, law enforcement officials told the Globe.

Officers set up the sting operation after responding to solicitations on the Website Craigslist.org, according to a Boston police report. Three of the women were arrested outside the hotel, but officers said a commotion began when the other two women got into a fight with each other.

Police said that the women started arguing with each other at about 12:30 a.m. over who would collect the money for the sexual services. The women were reportedly arrested kicking and screaming inside a hotel hallway.

"It was a huge scene," said a guest who told the paper she was frightened by the throng of investigators. She said one of the women screamed at the top of her lungs, then rolled around on the floor hyperventilating.

"We kept asking, 'What's going on?'" said the guest, adding that officers told her to "keep moving" and, "It's none of your business."

"Generally, these things can be investigated and taken down quietly, but sometimes circumstances outside our control occur," Russell Kleber, a spokesman for the FBI's Boston office, told the Globe. He added that the arrests were "aimed at combating sex trafficking of children."

Elaine Driscoll, a spokeswoman for the Boston Police Department, told the paper that Marriott managers had not been notified about the sting operation beforehand.

"We greatly appreciate Marriott Long Wharf's cooperation and we work very hard to be as low-key as possible," said Elaine Driscoll, a spokeswoman for the Boston Police Department. "In this case, in the last arrest of the night there was a safety issue, and the safety of our officers required intervention."