Multiple law enforcement agencies Tuesday and late Monday night served search warrants at several locations in San Diego and National City as part of an ongoing human trafficking investigation.
Officials said most of the locations were short-term rentals allegedly linked to human trafficking and prostitution.
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WATCH HEREThe operation was being led by the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force, which includes members of several local agencies.
"Specific details of this ongoing investigation are extremely sensitive and are not for media release. This operation is NOT associated with any type of federal immigration enforcement," the San Diego County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.
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SIGN UP Agencies involved include the National City Police Department, the San Diego Police Department and the sheriff's office.
While a sniper could be seen on the roof of a multi-unit building in National City, a tactical team from the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force surrounded it around 5 a.m. Tuesday.
Francisco Manzo had a front row seat to the action, as officers executed a human trafficking warrant at the building.
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Manzo says children at the school next door, along with his young girls, have been forced to bare witness to what happened at the property.
“Sometimes, we be coming from the grocery store and have to hold our kids looking the other way and run in the room, run in the house, because we don’t want them to see them butt naked out here," Manzo said.
Just last week, a draft ordinance regulating the rentals was sent back for revisions. Some of the suggestions included: requiring permits, limiting non-owner-occupied properties and hefty fines.
Councilmember Jose Rodriguez pushed to get the proposal approved to help better regulate what he says are more than a dozen of the roughly 200 short-term rentals in National City that have become dens of iniquity.
“Any of these violations would make sure that there is a way in which the city could make them accountable," Rodriguez said. "Whether it’s a $500, $1,500 or a $5,000 fee, I really want to get to the point where we can seize property if not compliant."
As the alleged illicit activity happens right next door to where children play outside and go to school, parents are hoping the National City Council will take action to regulate the rentals.
“We don’t want something like that exposed in their heads as normal, an everyday routine, where they may be a part of that in their adulthood,” one parent who didn’t want to be identified told NBC 7.
Task force officials aren't saying how many properties were targeted or how many, if any, arrests were made.
