There were 14 people arrested, and 10 victims of human trafficking rescued during a Comic-Con sex trafficking sting in San Diego, California, state Attorney General Rob Bonta said Tuesday.
"Unfortunately, sex traffickers capitalize on large scale events such as Comic-Con to exploit their victims for profit," Bona said in a press release. "These arrests send a clear message to potential offenders that their criminal behavior will not be tolerated.
"We are grateful to all our dedicated partners involved in the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force, whose collaboration has been invaluable."
The California Department of Justice's San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force conducted the sting Thursday through Sunday at Comic-Con, the comic book and pop culture extravaganza that draws over 130,000 fans annually.
Law enforcement personnel posted undercover advertisements soliciting sex to arrest sex buyers and worked undercover as sex buyers to identify and contact potential victims of trafficking and arrest their traffickers.
"There is no more insidious crime than human trafficking," San Diego County Sheriff Kelly Martinez said in the release. "The coercion and violence which enslaves people for profit and places them into forced labor or sex is criminal. As the Sheriff I support the efforts of all our justice partners in holding perpetrators accountable."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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