14 Arrested In Anti-Sex Trafficking Sting At San Diego Comic-Con

SAN DIEGO, CA — Fourteen people were arrested during an anti-human trafficking sting at San Diego Comic-Con, authorities said Wednesday.

The operation involved law enforcement officers working undercover as sex buyers in order to identify traffickers and victims, as well as posting fake advertisements soliciting sex to arrest sex buyers. As a result of the three-day operation, 14 sex buyers were arrested and 10 potential victims of sex trafficking were recovered and offered services, including a 16-year-old girl, according to the California Attorney General's Office.

"Unfortunately, sex traffickers capitalize on large scale events such as Comic-Con to exploit their victims for profit," Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. "These arrests send a clear message to potential offenders that their criminal behavior will not be tolerated."

The operation was conducted by the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force, which involves the California Department of Justice, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, California Highway Patrol, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, National City Police Department, San Diego City Attorney's Office, San Diego County District Attorney's Office, San Diego County Probation Department, San Diego County Sheriff's Department, San Diego Police Department, Southwest Border High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service also assisted in the operation.

"San Diego proudly hosts 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 for HSI San Diego. "However, when people use these events as an opportunity to prey upon minors, HSI and our law enforcement partners will find you and bring you before a court of law to face criminal charges. There is no place for alleged predators to operate in our city and HSI is committed to helping the victims of these crimes."