18 Rescued From Bay Area Human Trafficking Ring; 9 Arrested: Officials

SAN FRANCISCO — A large-scale operation targeting human trafficking in the Bay Area led to the rescue of 18 victims and nine arrests, investigators announced this week.

"Operation Phoenix" focused on a Colombian-based ring that prosecutors allege operated brothels at several hotels in the South Bay and East Bay. Several agencies joined the task force, including members of the Santa Clara District Attorney's Office, officers from the Santa Clara, San Jose, Gilroy, and Hayward police departments, the Alameda County Sheriff's Office, the FBI, and U.S. Homeland Security Operations.

Officials said the bust was among the state's largest human trafficking operations and the first such case to be based on wiretaps in Santa Clara County history. According to the district attorney's office, the probe began early last year after investigators noticed suspicious activity involving a husband and wife from Colombia who had been previously charged with crimes related to human trafficking.

The probe discovered an estimated 30,000 calls and text messages linked to a single dispatch number for prostitution, authorities said. Investigators allege the number was used to arrange meet-ups between exploited sex workers and buyers, which were scheduled at various local hotels.

According to prosecutors, the victims were recruited from South America and Mexico and made to work seven days a week in hotel rooms around San Jose and cities in the East Bay. The DA's office said victims were subject to constant surveillance, threatened, and not allowed to leave their rooms without permission.

"Slavery was outlawed in this country in 1865," District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement Tuesday. "In 2023 we will not tolerate its despicable resurgence. This operation is a testament to the dedicated and determined federal, state, and local authorities who are speaking as one to say human beings are not chattel."

Investigators believe the alleged traffickers used the money to fund a "lavish lifestyle," seizing more than $200,000 in cash and freezing other assets including cryptocurrency. Investigators said the wiretap revealed more than 30 victims, including the 18 who were rescued. Nine alleged traffickers were arrested, and six more are still at large.

At least one of the survivors was a teen and taken in by the DA's Children's Advocacy Center. All of the women who were rescued are receiving services that include counseling, medical care and housing assistance.