A team of federal, state and county investigators recently arrested 14 people and saved 10 victims during an undercover human-trafficking sting at the Comic-Con International event in San Diego, California.
The convention, dedicated to comic books and pop culture, has drawn massive crowds of over 130,000 in recent years. “Unfortunately, sex traffickers capitalize on large-scale events such as Comic-Con to exploit their victims for profit,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement.
Law enforcement officers worked undercover, posing as sex buyers as a way to identify and contact potential trafficking victims. The officers also posted undercover advertisements soliciting sex to hone in on sex buyers, prosecutors said in a news release.
Throughout the three-day operation, 14 sex buyers were arrested, and 10 victims recovered, including one who was just 16 years old.
“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. “These results show our collective dedication to combating human trafficking and holding criminals accountable are working.”
According to the task force’s statement, support services, child welfare services and juvenile support service advocates were on the scene to help the victims as needed.
“There is no more insidious crime than human trafficking,” San Diego County Sheriff Kelly Martinez said in a statement. “The coercion and violence which enslaves people for profit and places them into forced labor or sex is criminal.”
The event organizers said they were not aware of the operation until after it happened.
“Obviously, we find this very disturbing,” Comic-Con International wrote in a statement. “While we were not made aware of this operation, it is our understanding that the arrests were made outside of the event.”
The arrested individuals now face charges for soliciting, which in California is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine or up to six months in jail for a first offense.
“These arrests send a clear message to potential offenders that their criminal behavior will not be tolerated,” Bonta said. “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.”
