A team of federal, state and county investigators conducted an undercover human trafficking operation at the San Diego Comic-Con International over the weekend, rescuing 10 people and arresting 14 others.
Typically associated with adults in Chewbacca costumes or sci-fi movie actors showing up to sign autographs, this year’s event is ground zero for the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force.
According to a statement from California attorneys, the team is looking for “sex buyers who use San Diego Comic Con to find potential victims.” Gen. Rob Bonta’s office. Bonta said large venues like these — events at the San Diego Convention Center typically draw more than 100,000 people — are environments where sex traffickers “use… to exploit their victims for profit.”
According to the statement, the task force team targeted sex buyers at the convention by going undercover and posting solicitation ads. Officers also work undercover as sex buyers to identify and contact potential victims.
After a three-day investigation, 14 sex buyers were arrested and nine potential adult victims of sex trafficking were identified. A 16-year-old was also identified as the victim. Support services, child welfare services and youth support services advocates are on site to assist as needed, according to a statement from the task force.
“There is no crime more insidious than human trafficking,” San Diego County Sheriff Kelly Martinez said in a statement. “Coercion and violence that enslaves people and forces them to engage in forced labor or sex for profit is a crime. “
Event organizers said they were unaware of the operation until after it happened.
“Obviously, we find this extremely disturbing,” Comic-Con International wrote in a statement. “While we were not informed of this operation, it is our understanding that the arrests were made outside of the event.”
Event organizers say they “work closely with various law enforcement entities throughout the year and stand ready to assist in any way we can.”
Regular Comic-Con attendees such as film critic and author Jana Monji, who goes by the name Dragon Lady of Pasadena, said she’s not surprised that such an element might exist at such an event.
Monji, who has been attending San Diego Comic-Con for 12 years, said she has “seen some things that gave me pause.”
But Nikhil Shah, a Los Angeles immigration attorney who regularly attends Comic-Con (he’s attended four times) and Wonder-Con (six times) and participated in a panel discussion at this year’s event, said he’s not convinced by the assassination. The news was surprising.
“This would be the last place I would want to see something like this, but I’m glad the perpetrator was caught,” he said.
