Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is target of investigation carried out by Homeland Security team that specializes in human trafficking, source says

Homes belonging to Sean “Diddy” Combs were searched by authorities Monday because he is a target of a federal investigation carried out by a Department of Homeland Security team that handles human trafficking crimes, according to a senior federal law enforcement official briefed on the investigation.

Homes belonging to Sean “Diddy” Combs were searched by authorities Monday because he is a target of a federal investigation carried out by a Department of Homeland Security team that handles human trafficking crimes, according to a senior federal law enforcement official briefed on the investigation. The probe is being led by the US attorney for the Southern District of New York and carried out by the Department of Homeland Security Investigations’ Transnational Organized Crime Division, the official told CNN. The investigation stems from many of the same allegations put forth by several civil lawsuits filed in New York against Combs with allegations of sexual assault, including one filed in December in federal court that also included allegations of sex trafficking, according to a second law enforcement source familiar with Monday’s searches. Combs has previously denied those allegations. Heavily armed teams of HSI agents searched Combs’ homes in Los Angeles and the Miami area Monday – some riding in armored vehicles, in part because authorities believed Combs employs armed private security at each of his residences, the first source said. Agents were authorized to search for documents, phones, computers and other electronic devices that hold data or videos, the second law enforcement source said. A law enforcement source earlier told CNN that Monday’s searches were related to an ongoing sex trafficking investigation.