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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 to identify perpetrators and their victims, according to Bonta's office.
Headed by the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force, the annual enforcement effort operation "plays a significant role in our collective endeavors to ensure community safety and combat human trafficking," the attorney general said.
"Regardless of the season, every person deserves a safe place to call home," Bonta added.
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In addition to identifying and apprehending 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.
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The task force is a cooperative effort involving the FBI, HSI and U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California; the state Department of Justice and Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; the California Highway Patrol; the National City and San Diego police departments; the San Diego City Attorney's Office; the county District Attorney's Office, Probation Department and Sheriff's Department; and the Southwest Border High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.
In addition to serving as the lead agency on the task force, the state DOJ has two regional human-trafficking and sexual predator apprehension teams serving Northern and Southern California.
