Feds raided Sean “Diddy” Combs’ Miami and Los Angeles properties on Monday, amid lawsuits accusing the rap mogul of sexual assault and rape.
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the raids were part of a sex trafficking investigation.
Combs, 54, is currently the defendant in multiple lawsuits in several jurisdictions — including New York — where he’s been accused of trafficking, drugging and sexually assaulting women over decades. He’s also being sued by record producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones for alleged sexual harassment, making threats and involuntary drugging.
Authorities did not specify the allegations under investigation or confirm Combs himself was a target. Reps for the artist did not immediately reply to Daily News requests for comment.
“Earlier today, Homeland Security Investigations New York executed law enforcement actions as part of an ongoing investigation with assistance from HSI [Homeland Security Investigations] Los Angeles, HSI Miami and our local law enforcement partners. We will provide further information as it becomes available,” HSI said in a statement.
Aerial footage of the scene at the Los Angeles property showed two men in handcuffs. Unconfirmed reports identified them as Combs’ sons, Justin and King Combs.
A police line could be seen set up around Combs’ home in the wealthy Los Angeles neighborhood of Holmby Hills, near Beverly Hills.
It was not immediately known whether Sean Combs was at either property at the time of the raids.
“We will always support law enforcement when it seeks to prosecute those that have violated the law,” stated Douglas Wigdor, an attorney representing Combs’ ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, who filed and settled a lawsuit in November accusing him of years of abuse, along with an anonymous accuser.
“Hopefully, this is the beginning of a process that will hold Mr. Combs responsible for his depraved conduct.”
Other women have come forward with allegations since then. In November, days after Ventura’s settlement, Joie Dickerson-Neal filed suit in Manhattan Supreme Court accusing the rapper, entrepreneur and producer of drugging her during a 1991 date, assaulting her and filming it.
In addition to the raids, federal officials interviewed three women and a man about the current allegations, sources told NBC News, with three more people scheduled for questioning.
Combs was reportedly in Miami and about to depart for the Bahamas when investigators descended on his properties, taking his phones as well, NBC News reported. It was not clear if Combs had departed for the islands as of Monday evening.
Combs previously denied all allegations levied against him, calling them “sickening.”
