A recently concluded multi-agency crackdown on sex-trafficking crimes in the San Diego area resulted in a pair of arrests and support-service interventions on behalf of a dozen victims, including two children, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said Monday.
As part of Operation Home for the Holidays, a two-day campaign that concluded Thursday, law enforcement personnel worked undercover, posing as illicit sex-service buyers in San Diego and National City in order to identify perpetrators and their victims, according to Bonta’s office.
In addition to identifying and apprehending suspected sex traffickers, the operation provided victims with assistance from adult and juvenile support-service advocates.
Human traffickers typically target minors and “other vulnerable or marginalized populations because they are easier to manipulate and control,” noted Chad Plantz, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in San Diego.
“However, by working together with our partners such as the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force on targeted operations, we are all better postured to disrupt and dismantle the organizations behind the sex trafficking of minors and connect the victims with the services they need to start on their journey to recovery,” Plantz said.
The task force is headed by the state Department of Justice and joined by several local and federal agencies.
