Human trafficking: The dangers of sports events

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be held in three countries (Canada, U.S., Mexico) with matches taking place in 16 cities beginning June 11, 2026, to July 19, 2026. The volume of primary and secondary locations, multiple jurisdictions and an estimated 6 million to 6.5 million visitors will present substantial challenges to human trafficking (HT) investigators. 

This article will share observations and lessons learned from field open-source intelligence (OSINT) investigative methodologies and potential indicators of HT. In addition, law enforcement (LE) efforts to combat HT due other large high-profile events—including the 2022 and 2023 Super Bowls, the 2022 Alabama World Games and the 2023 Kentucky Derby—will also be shared.

Methodology

Increases in escort ads

A framework for investigative methodology was first established. The methodology included identifying suburbs and cities within a roughly three-hour drive because the hotel rooms available in host cities are difficult to obtain so many spectators and support staff resort to getting rooms outside of the host city in the communities surrounding the event. My team of investigators began searching for escort ads two weeks prior to the start of the event because support staff, spectators, media, human traffickers and escorts tend to arrive in advance. They also often remain in the area for one to two weeks after the event concludes. To use one example for the 2022 Birmingham World Games in Alabama, we were able to identify significant increases in the volume of escort ads, that ranged between 50% and up to 100% higher than the baseline when compared to July 2021 to the games in July 2022, as well as the three months that preceded the games. The uptick in ads began approximately two weeks prior to the games and the two weeks following.

Google search terms

Strategic search methodology included selecting three common escort ad sites and devised search strings that helped us target ads that had indicators of minors or force, fraud and coercion as well as date ranges to limit our search results to ads containing specific keywords and emojis associated with HT and exploitation of minors. For example, one search string was site:skipthegames.com and included “Birmingham” AND “June” AND “2022” AND “fresh” OR “brat” OR “new” OR “24/7.” This search targets the actual escort ad domain (skip the games) so the only results are sourced from the exact site not the entirety of the internet. The month and year limits the result to ads that have both “June’ and “2022” within so that our results would be timely and actionable (fresh not old) and the keywords help narrow to ads that may indicate trafficking or minors. 

Potential Indicators and the “totality of circumstances”

There is specific language as well as abbreviations and emojis used in ads that may indicate a minor and or force fraud and coercion. For example, terms such as “fresh,” “brat,” “prom,” “school,” “exams,” “90lbs” or “4ft” are examples of euphemisms for teens, while emojis such as the “airplane,” “24/7,” “car” etc., indicate that they will travel. In the case of the car, that emoji refers to “car dates.”

Searching the phone number or email associated with the ads in one example revealed that the phone number on an ad during the games had over 1,300 results from across the U.S. and Canada, with several being posted within days and even the same day as the ad for the games in Birmingham from as far away as Washington state. Another tactic used was copying and pasting the exact ad language into Google to see if the same language popped up in other ads and cities for different girls. It often enough did. These factors alone are indicators that we could be dealing with organized sex trafficking and that the girls in the ads could be there under duress and possibly in danger. 

Some ads allow Bitcoin and similar payment methods in addition to U.S. dollars. We conducted searches for Bitcoin ATMs in the vicinity of the hotels and identified several. We included the Bitcoin wallets and ad links and location of the ATMs in our reports to LE. If a steady stream of deposits was detected at these ATMs in very late or early morning hours for amounts in the thousands (usually amounts under $10,000 to avoid scrutiny), given the context of the games and potential HT they could be worth scrutinizing from a financial perspective.

Finally, a more subjective but important litmus test was the look and feel of the girl and the hotel room. Potential indicators of HT include: if the room is bright and clean vs. dark, dingy and messy; if the girls appear malnourished; if they have bite marks or signs of bruising present; if they appear intoxicated; if they appear sad or scared; and if stockpiles of supplies are visible (e.g., bottled water, feminine hygiene products, etc.).

Case study: Gibby

Super Bowl 2023 was held in Phoenix, Arizona. My team compiled 48 leads for LE based on the criteria outlined earlier. One lead came from LE to us—it was a sex trafficker named “Gibby” (not his real name). Gibby, who was based in the Phoenix area, was actively grooming a barely 18-year-old female (very young-looking) from Ontario, Canada, who was on the spectrum and had cognitive delays. He aggressively attempted to lure her to Phoenix to enter the sex industry. He even went so far as to send her plane tickets. When her parents became suspicious and seized her passport, he sent her an application for an emergency expedited 24-hour return time passport and a location near her home where she could acquire it. Our task was to disrupt the situation by compiling evidence as to where he was, locations he split his time with, associates, and—as he was a felon on parole—any evidence of breaches of his conditions. Upon receiving an intel packet from the agency, we split up the tasks and got to work. We were all highly invested in protecting the girl and getting Gibby off the streets. In addition, we wanted him to get caught in Arizona (rather than Canada if he decided to go get her) due to much higher sentencing. We were able to identify his previously unknown locations and hangouts in the Phoenix area as well as identify Las Vegas as a place he frequented along with a previously unknown accomplice. Importantly, HT cases are notoriously difficult to prove and investigations can be long and arduous. We simply had no time to lose in this case as she was at imminent risk, so fortunately we were able to identify two posts on social media that clearly demonstrated he was in violation of his conditions. One of which showed him with drugs and paraphernalia while the other was of him handling, loading and firing a pistol and an automatic rifle. This discovery helped in the disruption of his plan to traffic her during the Super Bowl.

Conclusion

The scale and complexity of the 2026 FIFA World Cup across Canada, the U.S. and Mexico will create conditions that can be exploited by human traffickers, much like other major international events. However, as demonstrated through prior operations, proactive and methodical use of OSINT and financial intelligence can play a critical role in identifying patterns, generating actionable leads and supporting LE in real time. By monitoring fluctuations in escort advertising, applying targeted search strategies and assessing indicators through a totality-of-circumstances approach, investigators can better distinguish between consensual activity and potential exploitation.

The case study of “Gibby” underscores how timely intelligence gathering and collaboration can directly disrupt trafficking efforts and protect vulnerable individuals. It also highlights the importance of speed, adaptability and cross-jurisdictional awareness in these investigations. As millions of visitors converge on World Cup host cities and surrounding regions, leveraging these lessons learned will be essential. Continued coordination between analysts, financial professionals and LE—combined with vigilance and sound methodologies—can help mitigate risks and ensure that large-scale events do not become opportunities for exploitation.

Investigating HT at major events requires seamless cooperation across multiple countries and jurisdictions because trafficking networks operate as highly fluid, transnational criminal syndicates that easily exploit legal borders to evade local LE. By establishing cross-border/jurisdictional partnerships, global authorities can rapidly share intelligence, track illicit financial flows, and coordinate simultaneous raids to disrupt HT networks and safely recover victims. Further, unified international jurisdiction cooperation helps ensure that vulnerable victims—who are often transported across multiple jurisdictions—receive legal protection and trauma-informed support, regardless of where they are rescued.

Matt Richardson, head of Intelligence, Canadian Centre for Open Source Intelligence (OSINT),
Ontario, Canada, matt@digitalempowermentproject.ca,