A Bay Area human trafficking task force arrested 25 alleged traffickers and provided resources to 53 trafficking survivors during the FIFA World Cup, authorities said Friday.
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The response, featuring a command post led by Santa Clara County’s Human Trafficking Task Force and the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center, involved the efforts of social workers, analysts, advocates, prosecutors and law enforcement agencies from 11 counties across Northern California, according to a news release from the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.
“We are proud that Santa Clara County showcased itself to the world so well and so safely, and with one voice declared our intolerance for the illegal trafficking of human beings,” said District Attorney Jeff Rosen in the news release. “We are standing with the survivors and providing them support and services so that they can go on to live a life free of cruel criminal exploitation.”
The survivors included 11 children, authorities added.
Across 66 separate operations conducted during the six World Cup games held at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara in June and July, authorities also cited 41 people for allegedly buying sex, authorities added. Some of the operations involved undercover operations that deployed fake communications, resulting in the arrests of 13 suspects who went to area hotels on suspicion of felony pandering.
Victims who were recovered during the operations were provided resources and advocates through YWCA Silcon Valley and Community Solutions, including temporary housing, toiletries, blankets and safety planning, authorities said.
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The operation included the involvement of nearly 70 agencies from Sacramento to Monterey, authorities added, with the regional coordination center hosting 50 analysts from federal, state and local agencies. That included intelligence gathering by the DA’s Office’s Crime Strategies Unit, the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office, the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, In Our Backyard, federal agencies and others.
Efforts were further assisted by the San Jose Police Department, the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office, the San Mateo County Human Trafficking Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations, the San Joaquin County ASALT Task Force, the Contra Costa County Human Trafficking Task Force, the Department of State Diplomatic Security Service, the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and local police departments in San Francisco, Mountain View, Hayward, Union City and Campbell.
The World Cup operations followed similar operations carried out during Super Bowl LX in February, through which authorities arrested 29 traffickers and located 73 victims, they said. The survivors included ten children, including one aged 12.
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