California’s state attorney general said an anti-human trafficking operation conducted at the popular Comic Convention — known as Comic-Con — in San Diego, California, last week resulted in 14 arrests and the recovery of 10 sex trafficking victims.
In a release, Rob Bonta said the joint operation between his office and the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force targeted sex buyers who use the popular convention to seek out potential victims.
The annual convention is dedicated to all things related to comics and comic books, including art, movies, video games and other media. Organizers said this year’s event in San Diego attracted about 135,000 people.
In the statement, Bonta said sex traffickers take advantage of such large-scale events to exploit potential victims.
The attorney general’s office said its operation targeted sex buyers and focused on recovering potential victims and arresting traffickers.
As part of the effort, law enforcement personnel worked undercover as sex buyers to identify and contact potential victims of trafficking and arrest their traffickers. Undercover law enforcement personnel also posted undercover advertisements soliciting sex to arrest sex buyers.
As a result of the three-day operation, 14 sex buyers were arrested, nine adult potential victims of sex trafficking were recovered, and one 16-year-old was recovered. According to the statement, support services, child welfare services and juvenile support service advocates were on the scene as needed.
The California attorney general’s office said the San Diego Sheriff’s Department, the San Diego Police Department and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service were among the partners on the human trafficking task force.
