At the current San Diego Comic-Con Convention, a human smuggling sting operation led to the arrest of 14 defendants and the recovery of 10 possible victims.
According to a press release released on Tuesday by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Bonta explained that undercover agencies posing as possible sexual buyers and sellers were the subject of a joint investigation under the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force from July 25 to July 27.
” 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 prospective criminals that their criminal actions will not be tolerated”.
According to Tuesday’s press release, the human trafficking sting operation “targeted sexual clients, and focused on recovering possible victims of sexual prostitution, and arresting smugglers”. To detain human smugglers and identify potential subjects, law enforcement officers posed as undercover sexual customers.
14 sexual customers were detained and 10 potential patients were rescued as a result of the three-day sting activity. Law enforcement officials did not release the names of the victims, but a press release stated that one of the victims was a 16-year-old infantile and nine of the possible victims were adults. Additionally, law enforcement officials stated that during the procedure, there were Child Welfare Services and both adult and immature assistance services available.
READ MORE: 70+ arrested in sexual smuggling band, 200+ patients identified
The San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force is a prestigious organization, according to the San Diego Police Department. More than a hundred people were identified and detained over the weekend while working up, according to San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl. ” This productive activity recovered 10 victims of human smuggling, including a woman of only 16 years old. These outcomes demonstrate how effective our collective efforts are in preventing human trafficking and holding criminals responsible.
Activities like Comic-Con, according to Christopher Davis, acting special adviser in charge of Homeland Security Investigations San Diego, give San Diego the opportunity to demonstrate its “growing and lovely town.” He did point out that HSI and our law enforcement partners will get you and take you before a court of law to face criminal charges when folks use these events as prey on adolescents.
In San Diego, Davis emphasized that” no place” was available for alleged predators to conduct businesses, and that Homeland Security Investigations may continue to assist victims of sex trafficking.
