The girls, some as young as 14, were allegedly picked up in the street and given takeaway meals before being plied with drink and drugs and lured to underage sex parties.
Many of the alleged victims are believed to have either been in care or from troubled family backgrounds. All are from the Stockport area of Greater Manchester.
More than 100 detectives were involved in a series of dawn raids targeting a number of men.
The investigation, named Operation Windermere, is one of the largest carried out by the force’s serious crime division and began when girls alerted social workers they were being abused.
The men – aged between 18 and 28 – were all arrested on suspicion of trafficking within the UK for the purposes of sexual exploitation.
Detectives say they have already spoken to 39 girls, either as suspected victims or witnesses.