San Mateo Police Net 11 Arrests in 'Operation Cross Country'

The San Mateo Police Department arrested 11 suspects in connection with a nationwide investigation into prostitution and human trafficking. 

On July 25 and 26, San Mateo police committed more than a dozen officers, detectives and supervisors toward the collective effort of Operation Cross Country, a nationwide campaign aimed at stopping human trafficking with an emphasis on rescuing juveniles.

The operation is coordinated through the Innocence Lost National Initiative, and is a functional partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), and local law enforcement agencies across the United States.

As part of the San Mateo operation, San Mateo police partnered with on-scene victim advocates from Freedom House, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing assistance to victims of human trafficking.

They provided alternatives, support, and resources to the prostitutes who were contacted. 

SMPD secured an undercover location for the operation, and arranged for meetings with possible prostitutes over two nights -- July 25 and 26.

In addition to 10 adult prostitution arrests, the second night of the operation resulted in the arrest of an alleged pimp who transported a suspected prostitute to the undercover location.

Yu Yuan, 25, of San Jose, was booked in San Mateo County Jail on suspicion of felony pimping.

San Mateo police are not releasing the names of the adult prostitutes arrested, as investigation into additional pimping suspects is ongoing, and identification of arrestees may compromise their safety.

The Police Department is also not disclosing the undercover address in San Mateo used for this operation, in order to preserve the ability to use the location in subsequent operations.

In addition to the criminal arrests and gathering of criminal intelligence information against additional pimps and others involved in prostitution and human trafficking, SMPD’s partnership with Freedom House afforded an opportunity for direct resource and support contact information to be provided directly to those individuals who are “caught up” in this activity and have nowhere to turn for assistance. 

To learn more about Operation Cross Country and the Innocence Lost National Initiative, visit www.fbi.gov, www.justice.gov, or www.ncmec.org.

For more information about Freedom House, a local agency dedicated to assisting those who are victimized by human trafficking, visit their website:www.freedomhousesf.org. 

The investigation was spread through the Bay Area as well as the entire nation.

The San Francisco Division of the FBI and multiple local and state law enforcement participated in the operation from July 24 through July 28 in a number of Bay Area cities and counties, running a total of 17 local operations.

Nationwide, 105 children were rescued and 150 pimps were arrested for various state and local charges. The efforts in the Bay Area account for 11.4% of the rescued children and 11.3% of the total number of pimps arrested throughout 76 participating cities in 47 FBI field offices.

The origins of this nationwide effort is rooted in northern California, when in 2006 the Bay Area Innocence Lost Working Group sought to target the growing problem of child prostitution by conducting a joint, multi-day operation to rescue children and to arrest those who exploited them.