San Diego Comic-Con Human Trafficking Sting Results In 14 Arrests, 10 Rescues
The citizens of America’s Finest City can rest a little bit easier tonight knowing that a human trafficking sting conducted during the recent San Diego Comic-Con has resulted in a number of both arrests and rescues.
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Per a press release issued by the office of California Attorney General Rob Bonta, said operation was conducted by the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force from July 25th – 27th and ultimately resulted in “14 arrests and 10 victims recovered and offered services.”
“The anti-human trafficking operation targeted sex buyers, and focused on recovering potential victims of sex trafficking, and arresting traffickers,” the AG’s office detailed. “Law enforcement personnel worked undercover as sex buyers to identify and contact potential victims of trafficking and arrest their traffickers. As part of the operation, undercover law enforcement personnel also posted undercover advertisements soliciting sex to arrest sex buyers. As a result of the three-day operation, 14 sex buyers were arrested, nine adult potential victims of sex trafficking were recovered and offered services, and one 16-year-old juvenile was recovered. Child Welfare Services and adult and juvenile support service advocates were on scene to provide support as needed.”
Offering a personal statement on the operation’s results, Bonta asserted, “Unfortunately, sex traffickers capitalize on large scale events such as Comic-Con to exploit their victims for profit. These arrests send a clear message to potential offenders that their criminal behavior will not be tolerated. We are grateful to all our dedicated partners involved in the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force, whose collaboration has been invaluable. We take great pride in our office’s commitment to uplifting vulnerable Californians by offering them assistance and guidance when they need it most.”
Likewise, San Diego Sheriff Kelly Martinez affirmed, “There is no more insidious crime than human trafficking. The coercion and violence which enslaves people for profit and places them into forced labor or sex is criminal. As the Sheriff I support the efforts of all our justice partners in holding perpetrators accountable. I appreciate the focus that was placed on the recent convention to identify and rescue victims of human trafficking.”
“San Diego proudly hosts special events like Comic-Con – highly attended events like these allow us to showcase our growing and beautiful city,” added Christopher Davis, acting special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations’ San Diego branch. “However, 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. There is no place for alleged predators to operate in our city and HSI is committed to helping the victims of these crimes.”
As of writing, the SDHTTF has not released any details pertaining to the identities of those arrested nor the current status of their respective legal proceedings.
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