SAN DIEGO — On July 30, as part of a joint investigation through the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) announced the results of a human trafficking sting, aimed at recovering victims of sex trafficking and targeting sex buyers using the San Diego Comic-Con to seek out potential victims.
From July 25 to 27, multiple law enforcement agencies conducted an anti-human trafficking operation coinciding with the Comic-Con that resulted in 14 arrests and 10 victims recovered and offered services. Comic-Con International is a comic book and pop culture event drawing over 100,000 fans to San Diego each year.
“San Diego proudly hosts special events like Comic-Con — highly attended events like these allow us to showcase our growing and beautiful city,” said HSI San Diego acting Special Agent in Charge Christopher Davis. "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.”
The anti-human trafficking operation targeted sex buyers and focused on recovering potential victims of sex trafficking and arresting traffickers. 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.
“Unfortunately, sex traffickers capitalize on large scale events such as Comic-Con to exploit their victims for profit,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta. “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.”
“There is no more insidious crime than human trafficking,” said San Diego Sheriff Kelly Martinez. “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.”
“The San Diego Police Department is a proud member of the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force,” said San Diego Police Scott Chief Wahl. “Working together, teams identified and arrested more than a dozen individuals participating in these illegal acts in our city over the weekend. 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.”
“Human trafficking is a grave violation of human rights and a crime that requires a concerted and unified response,” said Naval Criminal Investigative Service Special Agent in Charge Nicholas Carter of the agency’s Southwest field office. “Our participation in this joint task force underscores NCIS’ unwavering commitment to our service members, their families and the broader community from exploitation and abuse.”
The San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force is a cooperative effort involving the U.S. Department of Justice, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the California Highway Patrol, the FBI, HSI, the National City Police Department, the San Diego City Attorney’s Office, the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, the San Diego County Probation Department, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, the San Diego Police Department, the Southwest Border High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service also assisted in the operation.
About HSI
HSI is the principal investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel and finance move. HSI’s workforce consists of over 10,000 employees, assigned to 235 offices within the United States and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI's international presence represents DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.