Community
Human Trafficking Operation
| Nature of Incident: | Human Trafficking Operation |
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| Location: | Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties | ||
| Date & Time: Unit(s) Responsible: |
October 26-27, 2022 Ventura County Human Trafficking Task Force Federal Bureau of Investigation Santa Barbara Human Trafficking Task Force |
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| Narrative: On October 26th and 27th, 2022, Detectives from the Ventura County Human Trafficking Task Force (VCHTTF) participated in Human Trafficking Operations in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties. Detectives identified areas that have had sex trafficking activity in the past and set up sting operations with an emphasis on rescuing victims of sex trafficking, identifying, and arresting their traffickers, and contacting commercial sex customers- commonly referred to as “Johns.” Over the course of two days, detectives communicated with multiple victims with the hope of providing them resources to get out of the lifestyle. Detectives also posed as commercial sex workers on various web sites and communicated with multiple “Johns” who were seeking commercial sex in exchange for money. Overall, ten arrests were made for various criminal violations including solicitation of prostitution, possession of a firearm, and possession of a controlled substance for sales. A total of 6 victims were contacted and connected with local victim resources in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties. The Ventura County Human Trafficking Task Force is comprised of two full time Sheriff’s Detectives supported by representative detectives from each law enforcement agency in Ventura County and several victim service providers. The VCHTTF investigates both labor and sex trafficking occurring in Ventura County. Many human trafficking groups operate regionally and transport their victims to different areas to avoid law enforcement detection. VCHTTF Detectives have established close working relationships with nearby task forces in an attempt to stop trafficking from occurring in our counties and continue to strengthen intra-agency bonds through collaboration. The collaborating agencies were the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Santa Barbara Human Trafficking Task Force. These operations are done to raise awareness to the commercial sex customers. Often the customers are paying for sexual acts to individuals who are sexually exploited and trafficked against their will. The task force hopes to raise this type of awareness to the community as a whole and detectives believe that these proactive enforcement efforts are crucial in our fight against the human trafficking industry. Detectives encourage you to contact “211” or local law enforcement to be connected with services, if you believe you are a victim or know a victim of human trafficking. |
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| Prepared by: | Detective Conner Armstrong | ||
| News Release Date: | 11/03/2022 | ||
| Media Follow-Up Contact: | Detective Conner Armstrong Work Phone (805) 797-6399 [email protected] |
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| Approved by: |
Captain Brian Slominski |
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Address/Location
Ventura County Sheriff's Office
800 S Victoria Ave
Ventura, CA 93003
Contact
Emergency: 9-1-1
Non-emergencies: 805-654-9511