NYPD Issues World Cup Sex Trafficking Alert, Increases Monitoring

NYPD officials announced that they would be increasing their online monitoring and patrolling for sex trafficking in the city, saying the influx of visitors for the World Cup could create an increased demand for sex work.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup, which kicked off June 11, is expected to bring over a million people to the NY/NJ area. According to NYPD officials, the tourism boost may lead to a rise in human and sex trafficking, and provided resources to be aware of the warning signs.

NYPD officials defined human trafficking to be the use of ‘force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of commercial sex act’ and requested suspicious trafficking activity to be reported to the NYPD Human Trafficking hotline at 646-610-7272.

“Large events like the FIFA World Cup can create conditions for possible human trafficking,” the NYPD wrote on ‘X.’ “The NYPD wants your help. If you see something, say something.”

Among the warning signs of human trafficking, the NYPD informed residents and visitors to look for physical injuries, malnutrition, branding, insufficient clothing, disorientation, submissive behavior, and a reluctance to speak for themselves.

Additionally, the NYC Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender Based Violence have partnered with ‘It’s a Penalty,’ a nonprofit which runs campaigns against trafficking during global sporting events.

Kathleen Baer, NYPD Assistant Commissioner for Gender-Based Violence Policy and Planning, said traffickers target tourists to solicit sex work.

“People are going to be looking to exploit,” Baer said. “There are people, tourists from all over the world, they are going to be looking to purchase sexual acts for money, and pimps and traffickers are here to exploit that.”

Already, shortly after the World Cup began, NJ’s Passaic County Sheriff’s Office reported a huge prostitution bust: charging eight women June 11, according to a local NJ news outlet. In the city, NYPD has carried out a small crackdown on prostitution brothels fronting as spas, with three separate ‘spas’ being shut down — one brothel on the UWS and two brothels on the UES.

Christopher Zizza, lieutenant commander detective at NYPD’s Special Victims Unit Human Trafficking Squad, said NYPD safety measures include expanding NYPD presence in tourist hotspots and monitoring online trafficking attempts.

“We are monitoring online to see,” Zizza said. “We are monitoring hotspots, Port Authority bus terminals, anywhere where there’s an influx of people, is something we’re going to be focused on.”

”It can happen anywhere, to anyone,” Zizza added.

In its latest Human Trafficking report, New York State reported 45 arrests/arraignments made pertaining to sex trafficking.

Zizza said he hopes those involved with sex trafficking will use the NYPD hotline for help.

”We want the survivors to come forward to speak to us and they will be treated that way, because no one should be in fear that they are going to be in trouble,” Zizza said. “That one simple phone call can save somebody’s life and there are multiple ways to do it.”

Eight games at this year’s World Cup were slated for MetLife Stadium, which has been temporarily named NYNJ stadium, including the final July 19.