Operation Reclaim and Rebuild 2021

Date:

Details:

The Riverside County Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force (RCAHT) in partnership with the La Quinta Special Enforcement Team, Palm Desert Special Enforcement Team, Lake Elsinore Special Enforcement Team, Temecula Special Enforcement Team, Riverside Police Department and Murrieta Police Department effected sixty-four arrests during a nearly week-long proactive enforcement operation that targeted online prostitution and those whose demand for these unlawful activities fuels an illicit underground economy, both locally as well as across the State of California. Riverside County’s role in this operation, dubbed Operation Reclaim & Rebuild, ran for four consecutive days before concluding on January 28, 2021. Operation Reclaim & Rebuild is an annual multi-agency statewide initiative that focuses on rescuing victims of sexual slavery and human trafficking, identifying and arresting their captors, and disrupting demand for these vulnerable victims. Operation Reclaim & Rebuild is timed to coincide with National Human Trafficking Awareness Month and serves as a reminder that human trafficking will not be tolerated in California.

Last year’s “Operation Reclaim & Rebuild” included participation from over 70 law enforcement agencies statewide and resulted in 76 adult and 11 minor victims being recovered; 266 males arrested for the charge of Solicitation; and 27 suspected traffickers and exploiters arrested. In total, 518 arrests were made.

For this year’s operation, RCAHT task force members and our allied Riverside County law enforcement partners held operations in the cities of Lake Elsinore, La Quinta, Murrieta, Riverside, Palm Desert and Temecula. Over the span of four consecutive days, the task force arrested 61 males and one female for solicitation of prostitution, one male for soliciting a minor for lewd purposes, and one male for supervising/aiding a person to commit prostitution.

RCAHT Task Force members also made contact with two adult females believed to be victims of sex trafficking. Initial investigations led the task force to believe these subjects were being forced to engage in acts of prostitution against their will. The identity of these victims will not be released pursuant to state confidentiality laws. The victims were referred to victim services for assistance as the investigation into their sex trafficking continues.

RCAHT Task Force members placed decoy advertisements on popular classified advertisement web sites commonly used for the solicitation of prostitution. These RCAHT Task Force members then responded to prospective customers who replied to these advertisements. Once an agreement for prostitution was brokered, the customers were arrested upon their arrival at a pre-determined meeting location. Concurrently, other task force members negotiated agreed upon acts of prostitution based upon other escort advertisements that were posted online in the area. In these instances, females who responded to the undercover task force members posing as customers were directed to meet. After their arrival and an interview, if the females were determined not to be victims of human trafficking, they too were arrested.

Arrested during the operation for Soliciting a Minor for Lewd was:

Issac Mciver, 26 of Lakewood (Not Pictured)

Arrested during the operation for Supervising/Aiding a Person to Commit Prostitution was:

Corey Wiggins, 20 of Moreno Valley

Arrested during the operation for solicitation of prostitution were:

  • Audon Aguilera-Cortez, 26 of Riverside (Not Pictured)
  • Ian Alexander, 51 of Long Beach
  • Gabriel Alvarez, 28 of Coachella
  • Ethan Andrews, 29 of Menifee
  • Daniel Arriaga-Diaz, 27 of Ontario (Not Pictured)
  • Douglas Ayala, 43 of Twentynine Palms
  • Matthew Babb, 26 of Bishop (Not Pictured)
  • Monte Bertoldo, 53 of Palm Springs
  • Kivanc Bilgin, 36 of Murrieta
  • Scott Borel, 42 of Murrieta
  • Anousack Bounyadeth, 47 of Menifee
  • Rutilio Brito, 33 of La Quinta
  • Eduardo Calderon, 32 of Los Angeles
  • Sergio Castaneda, 37 of San Bernardino
  • Wilson Chen, 33 of Lake Elsinore
  • Dak Chim, 37 of Rosemead
  • Rodolfo Cortez, 37 of Riverside
  • Anthony Dagnenica, 52 of Menifee
  • Andrew Diaz, 23 of Lake Elsinore
  • Michael Eder, 45 of Murrieta
  • Margarito Escobar-Orozco, 34 of Lake Elsinore
  • Bryan Gaboury, 45 of Chino
  • Armando Gatewood, 32 of Murrieta
  • Anthony Gonzales, 43 of Chino
  • John Hald, 50 of Hesperia
  • Donovan Heard, 42 of Huntington Park (Not Pictured)
  • Stefan Hyatt, 34 of Apple Valley
  • Robert Johnson, 72 of Winchester
  • Nathan Keys, 23 of Bellflower (Not Pictured)
  • Gari Leal-Vallejo, 35 of Menifee
  • Alberto Leon-Lopez, 26 of Vista
  • Florencio Lopez, 50 of Thermal
  • Randall Lopez, 65 of Azusa
  • Roberto Lopez, 47 of Bermuda Dunes
  • Rodrigo Macias-Leal, 21 of Cathedral City
  • Quincey Morton, 41 of Los Angeles
  • Hai Nguyen, 50 of Mission Viejo
  • Wesley Orta-Marcano, 26 of Menifee
  • Daniel Martin, 42 of Murrieta
  • Ricardo Pachuca, 23 of Indio
  • Justin Parish, 46 of Murrieta
  • Juan Poblano-Martinez, 48 of Thermal
  • Goldsborough Purnell, 62 of Palm Springs
  • Eliuth Ramirez, 22 of Thermal
  • Enrique Ramirez, 23 of Thermal
  • Travis Risner, 41 of Murrieta
  • Lenard Rodriguez, 25 of Harbor City
  • Guadalupe Rosales, 44 of Perris
  • Adam Sambrano, 39 of Indio
  • Francisco Scott, 38 of Coachella
  • Marius Simmons, 47 of Temecula
  • Anthony Smith, 26 of Palm Desert
  • Kyle Smith, 26 of Palm Desert
  • William Spicknall, 37 of Palm Desert
  • Thomas Stanford, 42 of Indio
  • Christopher Stiles, 26 of Moreno Valley
  • Christopher Teague, 23 of Aguanga
  • Geoffrey Torres, 53 of Lake Elsinore
  • Mason Tubiolo, 27 of Temecula
  • Manuel Vega, 44 of Thermal
  • Gilbert Vita, 27 of La Habra (Not Pictured)
  • Ivory Woodly, 21 of Lynwood (Not Pictured)

Subjects arrested during this operation were transported to the detention center in closest proximity to the operational area(s) each day. During this multi-day operation, bookings occurred at the John B Benoit Detention Center in Indio, Cois M. Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta, and the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside. Following booking, each arrestee was ultimately released upon their written promise to later appear in court.

The RCAHT Task Force extends its sincere appreciation to the Southwest Sheriff’s Station, Lake Elsinore Sheriff’s Station, Palm Desert Sheriff’s Station, Thermal Sheriff Station, Riverside Police Department, and Murrieta Police Department for their support in conducting these joint operations. Without the commitment of personnel and resources from each of these participating agencies, these operations would not have been met with the same level of success.

Prostitution is not a “victimless” crime. Ninety-five percent of sex trafficking victims are women or children. Those victimized by commercial sexual exploitation frequently have long histories of emotional, physical, and/or sexual abuse or trauma in their backgrounds.  The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children estimates 1 in 6 endangered runaways reported are likely victims of sex trafficking. Sex trafficking victims are often subjected not only to severe forms of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse at the hands of their trafficker but are also frequently physically and sexually assaulted by those that solicit them for prostitution.

The Riverside County Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force seeks to disrupt and dismantle sex trafficking rings operating within Riverside County and will aggressively identify, pursue, and apprehend those who seek to exploit those who are most vulnerable. Through proactive enforcement operations such as Reclaim and Rebuild, RCAHT works to reduce future demand for sex trafficking by identifying and arresting sex buyers.

Anyone with questions about this operation can contact Sergeant Eric Menchaca or Sergeant Jose Tijerina of the RCAHT Task Force at (951) 955-1700.

The Riverside County Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force was formed in 2010 and the eastern Riverside County Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force was formed in 2020. Both address crimes involving the exploitation of victims via force, fraud, or coercion. These cases often involve the commercial sex trafficking of children, as well as incidents of forced labor, indentured servitude, debt bondage, or slavery. The RCAHT Task Force is a multidisciplinary task force that combines the investigative resources of both local and federal law enforcement. The RCAHT Task Force also provides victim services and education/outreach through partnerships with the non-profit groups Operation SafeHouse, Rebirth Homes, Run 2 Rescue, and Million Kids. The law enforcement component of RCAHT is currently composed of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Investigations, Homeland Security Investigations, the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Riverside County Probation Department, along with part-time participation of the Hemet Police Department, Riverside Police Department, and Desert Hot Springs Police Department.

For media inquiries regarding this incident please contact the Media Information Bureau.

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Share post:

Subscribe to The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

Popular

More like this
Related

Fallen crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison

Crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison for a massive fraud on hundreds of thousands of customers that unraveled with the collapse of FTX, once one of the world’s most popular platforms for exchanging digital currency.

Why are so many dying in California jails?

More people are dying in California jails than they did before the pandemic, and it’s not because of COVID-19.

Why California Democrats are divided on retail theft bill

Legislators may be off for spring recess, but debates about their bills are still happening outside committee rooms.

California delays financial aid deadline over bungled FAFSA rollout

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed legislation extending the deadline for students to apply for state scholarships as problems continue to beset the Biden administration’s rollout of a simplified federal aid form.