A four-day undercover multi-jurisdictional operation resulted in the arrest of 30 individuals for allegedly responding to advertisements offering sexual service, California’s Attorney General announced Monday.
The San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force and California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office announced the results of “Operation Century Week”, which kicked off on Nov. 1 and ended on Nov. 4. During this period, law enforcement personnel targeted sex buyers by working undercover, posing as individuals offering sex for sale online.
Sex buyers who responded to the ads were directed to a predetermined location and subsequently arrested, according to Bonta's office.
Operation century week was carried out across San Diego County, including Encinitas, National City, San Diego, Santee, and elsewhere — in collaboration with various law enforcement agencies.
According to San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan, sex trafficking is a lucrative industry that is fueled by demand, and it generates over $810 million a year in San Diego County.
“We are fighting this with the dedicated work of the San Diego Regional Human Trafficking Task Force and its efforts in this operation to hold sex buyers accountable. We will not tolerate this modern-day slavery of vulnerable children and young adults being bought and sold like a piece of pizza. Human beings are not for sale.”
According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, there were more than 1,300 human trafficking cases reported in California in 2020 — more than any other state in the nation. In California, human trafficking is prevalent in the hospitality, commercial sex, domestic work, and construction industries. Victims of human trafficking are also found among migrant and seasonal agricultural workers, providers of residential care, and in California’s garment sector.
Authorities also seized approximately 0.25 grams of cocaine and 0.6 grams of ketamine, a controlled substance commonly known as a “date rape” drug, were seized from one of the arrested individuals.
General information and resources to support survivors of human trafficking are available here.
