Operation cross country disrupts recovers victims and arrests traffickers who use santa clara county hotels
For release on August 3, 2023
CONTACT:
Patrick Vanier
Deputy District Attorney
LEIHT Task Force
(408) 792-2494/(408) 590-6318
Operation cross country disrupts recovers victims and arrests traffickers who use santa clara county hotels
Spearheaded by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, a multi-agency task force just wrapped up a major operation to target human traffickers who were exploiting young women sex workers at several South Bay hotels.
Investigators set up stings at local hotels and arrested traffickers when they dropped off the women. Two of those involved were in possession of guns and one trafficker brought his 2-year-old baby.
In all, “Operation Cross Country” – the local part of a national effort - recovered 23 women, several of them teens, working for sex traffickers. The women were released after being provided a host of services. Six traffickers were arrested and now face felony charges. If convicted, they face substantial state prison sentences.
The women were provided specialized services including counseling, immediate and long-term medical care, housing assistance, and services related to economic sustainability.
District Attorney Jeff Rosen said: “Paying for sex is not a victimless crime. These young women are groomed, assaulted, and exploited. If you spend money on these services, you are part of the problem. If you are a trafficker, you are the problem - and you are going to prison.”
OCC, initiated by the Innocence Lost FBI National Initiative, aims to reduce sexual exploitation of juveniles by recovering trafficking victims in the annual law enforcement operation.
From July 19th to July 30th, 2023, the DA’s Human Trafficking Taskforce, in coordination with SJPD and multiple federal and local law enforcement and community partners, conducted four recovery operations throughout Santa Clara County.
DA Rosen expressed his appreciation to those participating hotels, who will not be named to protect future recovery operations. In addition to these operations, the LEIHT taskforce and the South Bay Coalition to End Human Trafficking also conducts regular outreach and training with hotel personnel to identify and report suspected human trafficking.
As part of OCC, the taskforce also supported the Morgan Hill Police Department in conducting six inspections on massage parlors suspected of commercial sex activity, mostly along Monterey Road. All six locations had code enforcement violations and one was ordered closed for unsafe working conditions.
DA Rosen would like to thank all participating agencies, including the SJPD Human Trafficking Taskforce, the Milpitas, Morgan Hill, and Santa Clara police departments, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of State, FBI, NCRIC, Community Solutions, YWCA, and AACI advocacy services.
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