LOS ANGELES: Undercover officers posing as sex buyers at last week’s Comic-Con event in California rescued human trafficking victims, including a 16-year-old girl, and made multiple arrests, prosecutors said Wednesday.
A task force involving local San Diego police, federal officers and naval intelligence arrested 14 people who were attempting to buy sex at the giant pop culture gathering.
Ten victims were rescued, nine of them adults, said California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
“Unfortunately, sex traffickers capitalize on large scale events such as Comic-Con to exploit their victims for profit,” said Bonta, in a statement.
San Diego Comic-Con is one of the world’s largest pop culture events.
Around 135,000 people were expected to attend the convention, which lasted from Thursday to Sunday.
“Obviously we find this very disturbing and, while we were not made aware of this operation, it is our understanding that the arrests were made outside of the event,” a spokesperson for Comic-Con said in a statement to AFP.
“We work closely with a variety of law enforcement entities throughout the year and stand ready to assist in any way we can.”
Originally a grassroots event for comic books fans to meet, Comic-Con has grown exponentially and is today used by giant Hollywood studios and A-list stars to launch their latest blockbuster movies and TV shows.
Christopher Davis, acting special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in San Diego, said “highly attended events” like Comic-Con are often seen by criminals as “an opportunity to prey upon minors.”
“Working together, teams identified and arrested more than a dozen individuals participating in these illegal acts in our city over the weekend,” said San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl.
Law enforcement personnel placed undercover advertisements soliciting sex in order to arrest sex buyers.
Sex trafficking victims rescued by undercover agents at Comic-Con
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Sex trafficking victims rescued by undercover agents at Comic-Con
- Authorities arrested 14 people who were attempting to buy sex at the giant pop culture gathering
- San Diego Comic-Con is one of the world’s largest pop culture eve
6 planets will parade across the night sky at the end of February
NEW YORK: Six planets are linking up in the sky at the end of February, and most will be visible to the naked eye.
It’s what’s known as a planetary parade, which happens when multiple planets appear to line up in the sky at once. The planets aren’t in a straight line, but are close together on one side of the sun.
Skygazers can usually spot two or three planets after sunset, according to NASA. Hangouts of four or five that can be glimpsed with the naked eye are less common and occur every few years. Last year featured lineups of six and all seven planets.
When will they be visible?
On Saturday, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn will be visible to the naked eye if clear skies allow. Uranus and Neptune can only be spotted with binoculars and telescopes.
What time is optimal for viewing?
Go outside about an hour after sunset and venture away from tall buildings and trees that will block the view. Look to the western sky and spot Mercury, Venus and Saturn close to the horizon. Jupiter will be higher up, along with Uranus and Neptune.
How to know if you’ve spied a member of the parade?
“If it’s twinkling, it’s a star. If it is not twinkling, it’s a planet,” said planetary scientist Sara Mazrouei with Humber Polytechnic in Canada.
The parade should be visible over the weekend and in the days after. Eventually, Mercury will bow out and dip below the horizon.
At least one bright planet is visible on most nights, according to NASA.
Glimpsing many in the sky at once is a fun way to connect with astronomers of centuries’ past, said planetary scientist Emily Elizondo with Michigan State University.
Ancient astronomers used to make sense of the universe “just by looking up at the stars and the planets,” Elizondo said, “which is something that we can do today.”
