14 arrested in anti-human trafficking operation at comic book convention

The California attorney general said an anti-human trafficking operation at the popular comic book 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 statement, Rob Bonta said the joint operation between his office and the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force was aimed at sex buyers who use the popular convention to seek out potential victims.

The annual convention is dedicated to all things comics and comic books, including art, movies, video games and other media. Organizers said this year’s event in San Diego drew about 135,000 people.

In the statement, Bonta said sex traffickers take advantage of these 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 operation, law enforcement personnel worked undercover posing as sex buyers to identify and contact potential trafficking victims and arrest their traffickers. Undercover law enforcement personnel also placed undercover advertisements soliciting sex in order to arrest sex buyers.

As a result of the three-day operation, 14 sex buyers were arrested, nine potential adult sex trafficking victims were recovered, in addition to a 16-year-old boy. According to the statement, child welfare, youth support services and 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.

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