NASHUA, N.H. (AP) – The popular Craigslist.com Web site has proved a boon to police cracking down on prostitution.

Officers in Nashua have been using the New Hampshire section of the site, which features thousand of classified- and personals-style ads, to meet up with people looking to be or hire a prostitute at area hotels.

“I would say to anybody looking to do this sort of thing here, the next time you make one of these calls or go to a hotel room, you might be dealing with a Nashua police officer,” said police Sgt. Scott Childs.

They say that seven women and seven men have been charged with prostitution since July through use of the Web site. Childs said more arrests are expected in coming months.

“Most of these guys were pretty seasoned at doing this,” Childs said.

Police say the men were arrested after responding to a fake ad for massage and escort services officers had posted on the site’s “erotic” section. The men met a woman, who was working with police, at a Nashua hotel, and police monitored the conversations.

Police say the women who were arrested were accused of offering sexual acts for money to male officers who had arranged to meet them at hotels.

Childs said prostitution is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and that police take this crime seriously.

“These types of activities can increase the potential for a person to become a victim of a sexually transmitted disease as well as a victim of a crime,” he said.