413047-Underground-Commercial-Sex-Economy

San Diego, California
Eighteen individuals were interviewed about the local underground commercial sex economy in San
Diego, California. Representatives from the following agencies were interviewed: San Diego County
Sheriff’s Office, the FBI, the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the San Diego County Attorney’s
Office, the US Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), the Internal Revenue Service, and the San Diego Police
Department.
The underground commercial sex economy in San Diego includes street and online prostitution,
residential brothels, massage parlors, and escort services (see table 4.6). Gangs dominate street and
online markets, particularly African American gangs and hybrid gangs. There is clear evidence that these
gangs are involved in sex trafficking rings that span several cities. Visible street prostitution ebbs and
flows across the county and surrounding regions, depending on online demand and law enforcement
presence. More sophisticated UCSE operations gather crude information on local demand via the
Internet. Such operations do not limit themselves to the San Diego area or even California. The cities most
commonly cited as connected to San Diego’s UCSE were Phoenix, Seattle, and Las Vegas. Massage parlors
and migrant camp brothels have proven most difficult to infiltrate because of the highly structured nature
of these enterprises and the foreign language barrier; however, they are believed to be hierarchical and
run like a large criminal enterprise, with individuals assuming different roles within in the hierarchy.
Although stakeholders mentioned men and boys who trade sex in San Diego, they knew very little about
that market and their overall involvement in the UCSE. Stakeholders are aware that the UCSE is thriving
in San Diego, but it is difficult to determine its size:
I think we’re kinda like the Titanic. We see the iceberg, but we really have no idea how big
it is under the surface because we’re just seeing the top of it and we’re getting our feet wet
with it, but it’s just spawning off into so many things from the tips to just the prostitution.
(San Diego Law Enforcement Official)
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