US World Cup anti‑trafficking operations

During the 2026 FIFA World Cup, U.S. law‑enforcement agencies carried out coordinated anti‑human‑trafficking sweeps at major match venues. In New York, the NYPD’s Special Victims Unit seized 89 suspected traffickers and rescued 43 victims, including seven minors, after monitoring watch parties, online forums and known offenders at sites such as MetLife Stadium.

Two days later, a multi‑county task force in Santa Clara County, California, conducted 66 raids around Levi’s Stadium. The effort identified 53 trafficking survivors—11 of them minors—and arrested 25 suspects. The operation, led by local and federal partners (FBI, U.S. Attorney’s Office, State Diplomatic Security, and California corrections), cited 41 sex buyers and linked all survivors with community support agencies.

Later in the tournament, a broader federal initiative coordinated by the Department of Homeland Security’s Center for Countering Human Trafficking and Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, with FBI assistance, resulted in 905 arrests of suspected traffickers and the rescue of 180 victims, including 30 children, across several host cities such as Dallas, San Francisco, Miami‑Dade and Kansas City. Officials framed the actions as an extension of earlier anti‑trafficking drives, such as the Super Bowl crackdown, underscoring a sustained nationwide effort to protect vulnerable persons during high‑profile international sporting events.