The New York City Police Department conducted a significant human trafficking crackdown during the recent FIFA World Cup, resulting in 89 arrests and the rescue of 43 individuals, including seven minors. Inspector Gary Marcus, commanding officer of the NYPD's Special Victims Unit, announced the results on Thursday.
The multi-borough operations, which occurred before and during the 39-day soccer tournament, involved surveillance of watch parties, monitoring of online communications, and visits to individuals with prior convictions for sex trafficking. The World Cup included eight games held at MetLife Stadium.
"We saw our officers out there at these large gatherings, but what you didn’t see were our investigators working behind the scenes, gathering intelligence, identifying traffickers, and interacting and trying to rescue these victims," Marcus stated. He added that investigators also targeted previously convicted sex offenders and traffickers, asserting, "We wanted to let them know that we know who you are, and we’re watching."
Among the 87 operations conducted was the rescue of a minor from a hotel room. Investigators intercepted online communications indicating the child was being sex trafficked, leading to a swift rescue and arrest.
Kathleen Baer, NYPD Assistant Commissioner for Gender-Based Violence Policy and Planning, highlighted the collaboration with advocate partners. Survivors were connected with services immediately following their rescue. "We had advocates at the hotel operations sitting in a room right next door, so as soon as we took a survivor out of that situation, they were able to meet with an advocate, talk about services, and really just take the temperature down of a situation that could seem really scary at the time," Baer said.
Baer encouraged the public to report suspicious activity, stating, "So we just really encourage people if they see something, say something, call that hotline, if it doesn’t look right, we’ll check it out. Maybe it’s nothing, but maybe it’s something and you could save someone’s life."