On Monday, federal agents raided the Los Angeles and Miami homes tied to music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Video captured by Sky5 showed several SWAT vehicles as well as agents in bulletproof vests moving in and out of Combs’ home on South Mapleton Drive in the Holmby Hills neighborhood of L.A.
Federal agents were also seen questioning several people who appeared to be at least temporarily detained just outside the home.
Multiple reports state the Bad Boy Records founder’s sons Justin Combs, 30, and Christian “King” Combs, 25 were among those possibly temporarily detained outside.
Records obtained by KTLA show the home isn’t owned by Combs but is associated with his production company. A Mercedes-Benz G Class, often referred to as a “G-Wagon,” located on the property was registered to Bad Boy Productions Inc.
The “I’ll Be Missing You” singer was not present at the two locations of the raids.
Where is Diddy?
Amid the raids, various outlets tracked the New York native’s private jet, LoveAir LLC, to Antigua with many assuming he had fled the country.
People reported the private plane departed on the evening of March 24 around 5:30 p.m., leaving the Sacramento Executive Airport and then landing at Palm Springs International Airport about an hour later.
About an hour after that, the flight left Palm Springs and landed at the Van Nuys Airport in Los Angeles around 8 p.m.
Around 9 a.m. on March 25, the flight departed Van Nuys and landed in Antigua.
“Antigua, as we know, is an extradition country, so probably not the best place to flee to if Diddy was indeed on that plane, if that’s where he is,” former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani said during an interview on “Banfield.”
However, Combs ended up not being on the plane.
After his homes were raided, TMZ obtained video showing Combs pacing back and forth outside of the Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport. The outlet reports some associates were stopped by officials.
According to Rolling Stone, a 25-year-old man named Brendan Paul was arrested. Paul has been accused in a lawsuit of being Combs’ drug “mule.”
Combs’ current whereabouts are unknown.
Flight tracking website FlightAware has since noted that tracking of the aircraft was “not available for public tracking per request from the owner/operator.”
A FlightAware spokesperson told the Miami Herald that it isn’t unusual for a plane owner to ask for their flight activity to be blocked.
Why did this happen?
Homeland Security Investigations officials told KTLA on Monday that “HSI New York executed law enforcement actions as part of an ongoing investigation, with assistance from HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami, and our local law enforcement partners.”
According to CNN, the investigation was handled by the Department of Homeland Security’s team that handles human trafficking crimes. The outlet also reports that the allegations stem from many of the allegations put forth in several civil lawsuits that have been filed against him. The lawsuits contain claims of sexual assault, rape and human trafficking.
Combs has denied those allegations.
What sparked the lawsuits?
In November 2023, Combs’ protege and ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, who performs under the name Cassie, sued him, accusing him of years of sexual abuse including rape. The lawsuit alleged he forced her to have sex with male prostitutes while he filmed them.
Combs and Ventura began dating in 2007 and had an on-and-off relationship for more than a decade.
Ventura’s attorney provided KTLA with the following statement regarding the raids:
“We will always support law enforcement when it seeks to prosecute those that have violated the law,” Attorney Douglas Wigdor said. “Hopefully, this is the beginning of a process that will hold Mr. Combs responsible for his depraved conduct.”
Ventura’s suit last year was settled the day after it was filed, but the lawsuits against Combs kept coming against him.
Combs had said in a December statement, “I did not do any of the awful things being alleged.”
In February, a music producer filed a lawsuit alleging Combs coerced him to solicit prostitutes and pressured him to have sex with them. Combs’ attorney Shawn Holley has said of those allegations that “we have overwhelming, indisputable proof that his claims are complete lies.”
Another of Combs’ accusers was a woman who said the rap producer raped her two decades ago when she was 17.
The filings detail acts of sexual assault, beatings and forced drugging allegedly committed in the early 1990s by Combs, then a talent director, party promoter and rising figure in New York City’s hip-hop community.
Following the lawsuits, the businessman stepped down as chairman of his cable television network Revolt.
Following the raids, TMZ reported that Combs is no longer associated with the network as he has reportedly sold off all his shares to an unknown buyer.
He also created an online marketplace called Empower Global that featured Black-owned brands. The website for the curated marketplace is still active, but shows no products being sold.
Combs’ team has not immediately responded to KTLA’s request for comment regarding the raids and the investigation.