A human trafficking sting operation at the recent San Diego Comic-Con Convention led to the arrest of fourteen suspects and the rescue of 10 potential victims.
A Tuesday press release by California Attorney General Rob Bonta explained that a joint investigation under the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force conducted a sting operation from July 25 to 27 during the Comic-Con Convention with undercover agents posing as potential sex buyers and sellers.
“Unfortunately, sex traffickers capitalize on large scale events such as Comic-Con to exploit their victims for profit,” Bonta said. “These arrests send a clear message to potential offenders that their criminal behavior will not be tolerated.”
According to Tuesday’s press release, the human trafficking sting operation “targeted sex buyers, and focused on recovering potential victims of sex trafficking, and arresting traffickers.” Law enforcement officers posed as undercover sex buyers to arrest human traffickers and identify potential victims.
The three-day sting operation resulted in the arrest of 14 sex buyers and the rescue of 10 potential victims. While the names of the victims were not released by law enforcement officials, the press release noted that nine of the potential victims were adults and one of the victims was a 16-year-old juvenile. Law enforcement officials added that Child Welfare Services and both adult and juvenile support services were made available during the operation to provide support to the victims.
READ MORE: 70+ arrested in sex trafficking ring, 200+ victims identified
“The San Diego Police Department is a proud member of the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force. Working together, teams identified and arrested more than a dozen individuals participating in these illegal acts in our City over the weekend,” San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said. “This successful operation recovered 10 victims of human trafficking, including a girl of just 16 years old. These results show our collective dedication to combatting human trafficking and holding criminals accountable are working.”
Christopher Davis, acting special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations San Diego, said that events like Comic-Con allow San Diego to showcase its “growing and beautiful city.” However, he warned, “When people use these events as an opportunity to prey upon minors, HSI and our law enforcement partners will find you and bring you before a court of law to face criminal charges.”
Davis emphasized that there was “no place for alleged predators” to carry out operations in San Diego and explained that Homeland Security Investigations would remain committed to helping sex trafficking victims.
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