Comic-Con human trafficking sting in San Diego leads to 14 arrests, 10 rescues
Investigators arrested 14 people and rescued 10 victims including a 16-year-old during an undercover human trafficking sting at Comic-Con International, the massive event held this past weekend in San Diego.
The comic book and pop culture convention brings more than 100,000 people to the San Diego Convention Center each year, and this year, human trafficking detectives carried out a human trafficking investigation there from July 25 to 28, according to California Attorney General Rob Bonta's office.
The San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force, which includes federal, state and county-level detectives, went to Comic-Con to find victims of sex trafficking and "sex buyers using the San Diego Comic-Con Convention to seek out potential victims," according to a statement from Bonta's office.
"Unfortunately, sex traffickers capitalize on large scale events such as Comic-Con to exploit their victims for profit," Bonta said in the statement.
Three-day sting operation
The state justice department said law enforcement officials went to the convention undercover, pretending to be "sex buyers" as they searched for suspects and potential victims. The investigators also posted undercover advertisements soliciting sex in order to find suspects, authorities said.
Advocates of human trafficking victims and other support services were provided to those rescued in the three-day operation, including child welfare services for the teenager.
"There is no more insidious crime than human trafficking," San Diego Sheriff Kelly Martinez said in the statement from Bonta's office.
"The coercion and violence which enslaves people for profit and places them into forced labor or sex is criminal," she said. "I appreciate the focus that was placed on the recent convention to identify and rescue victims of human trafficking."
During the pandemic, the annual massive event had to go virtual before returning to its usual site at the San Diego Convention Center more recently, once again drawing thousands of people to the city.
Comic-Con, other conventions targeted by human traffickers
Christopher Davis, acting special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations in San Diego, said major events like Comic-Con are a point of pride for the city of San Diego but can be used by criminals as a place to exploit those who attend them.
"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," Davis said in the statement from Bonta's office. "There is no place for alleged predators to operate in our city and HSI is committed to helping the victims of these crimes."
The human-trafficking sting included the cooperation of the FBI, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California, the California Highway Patrol, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the San Diego County District Attorney's Office, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, among others.