{"id":1903,"date":"2026-06-27T08:05:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T08:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1903"},"modified":"2026-06-27T08:05:02","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T08:05:02","slug":"sex-trafficking-investigations-ongoing-as-focus-shifts-to-assisting-alleged-sex-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1903","title":{"rendered":"Sex trafficking investigations ongoing as focus shifts to assisting alleged sex workers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

PEARL CITY (HawaiiNewsNow) – Honolulu Police have ongoing investigations after executing two search warrants this week, looking into sex traffic and prostitution cases.<\/p>\n

Read more Police seek suspect in Kalihi stabbing<\/a><\/p>\n

One of those warrants was executed in a stretch of Pearl City that\u2019s seen as a hotbed for criminal activity, based on the number of police reports.<\/p>\n

A photo showed police outside a relaxation center at the Pearl City Business Plaza, where police found two alleged sex workers and recovered $3,828.<\/p>\n

Two days before that, HPD found multiple alleged sex workers in a residential neighborhood in Aiea on Pakalana Street. Officers also recovered $17,777.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cIt appears we had brothels, essentially, running, and houses that were functioning as brothels in communities, and they basically raided those operations,\u201d said U.H. criminology professor emerita Meda Chesney-Lind.<\/p>\n

The Imua Alliance, a local anti-trafficking organization, estimates there are 150 high-risk operations selling sex in Hawaii, with 1,500 to 2,500 victims every year.<\/p>\n

The workers involved in this week\u2019s raids were not arrested. Instead, HPD offered them counseling and services because they are considered to be victims.<\/p>\n

\u201cI commend the police departments — and assuming the prosecution is also involved in this — for reframing the issue away from just picking up essentially victims who are engaged in sex work,\u201d said Chesney-Lind.<\/p>\n

Read more Police seek suspect in Kalihi stabbing<\/a><\/p>\n

Interim Honolulu Police Chief Rade Vanic told HNN in a statement, \u201cThe Honolulu Police Department remains steadfast in our commitment to identifying victims, connecting them with critical resources, and pursuing those responsible for exploitation. These investigations remain a priority, and together with our community partners, we will continue working to prevent trafficking and bring offenders to justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the chair of the Pearl City Neighborhood Board says the relaxation center is part of an overall tone of lawlessness.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs far as the sex trafficking, the human trafficking, the drugs, the illegal gambling — it\u2019s just in this little quarter-mile area here. That\u2019s where it\u2019s at,\u201d said Larry Veray, referring on an area of Kamehameha Highway near Waimano Home Road.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I called HPD to get some information — I think this was back in May — roughly it was 153 reports just in this area on incidents that had occurred, and that was from January to May,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

There have been no arrests so far in either sex trafficking case, but those responsible may have least been put on notice.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt may be that they want to harass the people engaged in the behavior — and taking their money, of course, is one way to do that,\u201d said Chesney-Lind.<\/p>\n

Read more Businesses across Oahu prepare to close as rising costs strain operations<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HPD’s Human Trafficking Unit served search warrants in Pearl City and Aiea looking into sex trafficking and prostitution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1902,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nSex trafficking investigations ongoing as focus shifts to assisting alleged sex workers - Hawaii Moving Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1903\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sex trafficking investigations ongoing as focus shifts to assisting alleged sex workers - Hawaii Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"HPD's Human Trafficking Unit served search warrants in Pearl City and Aiea looking into sex trafficking and prostitution.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1903\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hawaii Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-27T08:05:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1903#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1903\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0\"},\"headline\":\"Sex trafficking investigations ongoing as focus shifts to assisting alleged sex workers\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-27T08:05:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1903\"},\"wordCount\":460,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1903#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/a2a67177ae827b8ebd8b3e12e16de915.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1903#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1903\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1903\",\"name\":\"Sex trafficking investigations ongoing as focus shifts to assisting alleged sex workers - Hawaii Moving Insider\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1903#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1903#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/a2a67177ae827b8ebd8b3e12e16de915.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-27T08:05:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1903#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1903\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1903#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/a2a67177ae827b8ebd8b3e12e16de915.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/a2a67177ae827b8ebd8b3e12e16de915.avif\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1903#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sex trafficking investigations ongoing as focus shifts to assisting alleged sex workers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Hawaii Moving Insider\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sex trafficking investigations ongoing as focus shifts to assisting alleged sex workers - Hawaii Moving Insider","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1903","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sex trafficking investigations ongoing as focus shifts to assisting alleged sex workers - Hawaii Moving Insider","og_description":"HPD's Human Trafficking Unit served search warrants in Pearl City and Aiea looking into sex trafficking and prostitution.","og_url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1903","og_site_name":"Hawaii Moving Insider","article_published_time":"2026-06-27T08:05:02+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1903#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1903"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0"},"headline":"Sex trafficking investigations ongoing as focus shifts to assisting alleged sex workers","datePublished":"2026-06-27T08:05:02+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1903"},"wordCount":460,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1903#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/a2a67177ae827b8ebd8b3e12e16de915.avif","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1903#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1903","url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1903","name":"Sex trafficking investigations ongoing as focus shifts to assisting alleged sex workers - Hawaii Moving Insider","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1903#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1903#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/a2a67177ae827b8ebd8b3e12e16de915.avif","datePublished":"2026-06-27T08:05:02+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1903#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1903"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1903#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/a2a67177ae827b8ebd8b3e12e16de915.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/a2a67177ae827b8ebd8b3e12e16de915.avif","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1903#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sex trafficking investigations ongoing as focus shifts to assisting alleged sex workers"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/","name":"Hawaii Moving Insider","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com"],"url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1903\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}