San Diego authorities arrested 14 people and rescued 10 victims, including a 16-year-old boy, after an undercover operation against human trafficking at the massive and popular Comic-Con International event in the Southern California city over the weekend.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Wednesday's arrests were part of a joint investigation by the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force aimed at “recovering” sex trafficking victims and targeting sex buyers who use the annual convention to seek out potential victims.
From Thursday to Sunday, the task force, which also included the FBI, the Department of Justice and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), conducted the undercover operation.
Comic-Con International is a comic book and pop culture event that draws more than 100,000 fans to San Diego each year.
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Fourteen people were arrested after an undercover operation against human trafficking at San Diego Comic-Con over the weekend. (Jerod Harris/Getty Images)
“Unfortunately, sex traffickers take advantage of large-scale events like Comic-Con to exploit their victims for profit,” Bonta said in a news release.
“These arrests send a clear message to would-be criminals that their criminal behavior will not be tolerated. We are grateful to all of our dedicated partners who participate in the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force, whose collaboration has been invaluable. We are proud of our office's commitment to helping vulnerable Californians by offering assistance and guidance when they need it most.” — California Attorney General Rob Bonta
The operation targeted sex buyers and focused on recovering potential sex trafficking victims and apprehending traffickers.
The Attorney General's Office said law enforcement officers worked undercover as sex buyers to identify and contact potential trafficking victims and arrest their traffickers. As part of the operation, law enforcement officers also posted undercover advertisements soliciting sex to arrest buyers.
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California Attorney General Rob Bonta (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli/File)
As a result of the three-day operation, 14 sex buyers were arrested, nine adult potential sex trafficking victims were recovered and offered services, and a 16-year-old girl was recovered, authorities said.
“Working together, the teams identified and arrested more than a dozen individuals who engaged in these illegal acts in our city over the weekend. These results show that our collective dedication to combating human trafficking and holding offenders accountable is paying off,” said San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl.
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San Diego International Comic Convention (Araya Doheny/GC Images)
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“San Diego is proud to host special events like Comic-Con. Highly attended events like these allow us to showcase our growing and beautiful city,” said Christopher Davis, Acting Special Agent in Charge of HSI San Diego. “However, when individuals use these events as an opportunity to prey on minors, HSI and our law enforcement partners will find you and bring you to court to face criminal charges. There is no place for suspected predators to operate in our city and HSI is committed to helping victims of these crimes.”
The San Diego Comic-Con sent Fox News Digital a statement saying it was not aware of the sting operation.
“We obviously find this very disturbing and while we were not informed of this operation, we understand that the arrests were made outside of the event,” the statement read. “We work closely with a variety of law enforcement entities throughout the year and stand ready to assist in any way we can.”
