14 suspected human traffickers arrested at Comic-Con event in secret

Fourteen suspected human traffickers were arrested at the massive international Comic-Con event that took place in San Diego over the weekend thanks to an undercover sting that also rescued ten victims.

“California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that Wednesday's arrests were part of a joint investigation by the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force aimed at 'recovering' victims of sex trafficking and to target sex buyers through the annual convention to seek out potential victims.” Fox News reported

“These arrests send a clear message to potential criminals that their criminal behavior will not be tolerated. We are grateful to all of our dedicated partners involved in the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force, whose collaboration has been invaluable,” Bonta said in a statement. “We are very proud of our office's commitment to uplifting vulnerable Californians by offering them assistance and guidance when they need it most.”

The task force conducted the sting from Thursday to Sunday along with the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the DOJ.

Sex traffickers take advantage of major events like Comic-Con to exploit victims.

As a result of an investigation by the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force, 14 people have been arrested and 10 potential victims have been offered services.https://t.co/znW5LI9nBR pic.twitter.com/CLUyOFbrsk

— Rob Bonta (@AGrobBonta) July 31, 2024

The wildly popular event attracts over 130,000 fans each year who are avid fans of comics and pop culture according to NBC news. It is the perfect ground for human traffickers.

“Unfortunately, sex traffickers take advantage of large-scale events like Comic-Con to exploit their victims for profit,” Bonta said in his press release.

Authorities targeted sex buyers and intended to rescue potential sex-trafficking victims and arrest traffickers.

“The AG's office said police personnel were working undercover as sex buyers to identify and contact potential trafficking victims and arrest their traffickers. As part of the operation, police personnel also posted undercover ads soliciting sex to arrest shoppers,” Fox News noted.

“As a result of the three-day operation, 14 sex buyers were arrested, nine potential adult victims of sex trafficking were recovered and offered services, and a 16-year-old girl was recovered,” they said. officials said,” the outlet added.

Authorities arrested 14 people and rescued 10 victims, including a 16-year-old, during an undercover human trafficking bust at the San Diego Comic-Con Convention. pic.twitter.com/prmN8u0scf

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) July 31, 2024

“Child Welfare Services and adult and juvenile support services advocates were on scene to provide support as needed,” a press release stated.

The convention's young demographic makes it particularly attractive to human traffickers.

“Working together, the teams identified and arrested more than a dozen people involved in these illegal acts in our city over the weekend. These results show that our collective dedication to combating human trafficking and holding criminals accountable is working,” San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said of the operation.

“San Diego proudly hosts special events like Comic-Con; well-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 people use these events as an opportunity to take advantage of minors, HSI and our law enforcement partners will find you and bring you to court to face criminal charges. There is no place for alleged predators operate in our city and HSI is committed to helping the victims of these crimes.”

(Video credit: CBS 8 San Diego)

For its part, the San Diego Comic Convention claims it was not aware of the sting operation.

“Obviously, we find this very disturbing, and while we were not informed of this operation, we understand that the arrests were made outside of the event,” a statement from the convention said. “We work closely with a number of law enforcement agencies throughout the year and are ready to assist in any way we can.”

Terresa Monroe-Hamilton is a constitutional conservative who researches and writes extensively on politics and current affairs.

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