Sting operation

In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person attempting to commit a crime. A typical sting will have an undercover law enforcement officer, detective, or co-operative member of the public play a role as criminal partner or potential victim and go along with a suspect's actions to gather evidence of the suspect's wrongdoing. Mass media journalists occasionally resort to sting operations to record video and broadcast to expose criminal activity.^[1]

Sting operations are common in many countries, such as the United States,^[2] but they are not permitted in some countries, such as Sweden or France.^[3] There are prohibitions on conducting certain types of sting operations, such as in the Philippines, where it is illegal for law enforcers to pose as drug dealers to apprehend buyers of illegal drugs.^[4]

Examples

Deploying a bait car to catch a car thief^[5]
Setting up a seemingly vulnerable honeypot computer to lure and gain information about hackers^[6]
Offering to pass weapons or explosives to a would-be terrorist^[7]
Luring fugitives out of hiding by sending them mail telling them that they have won a vacation or sports tickets in a competition, which can be collected.^[8] In an 1985 sting known as Operation Flagship, US Marshals arrested over 100 fugitives by posing as a television company inviting them to the Washington Convention Center to claim free tickets for a Washington Redskins match.^[8] Another established a fictitious airline offering free tickets, arresting those who came to the fake checkin desk at Miami International Airport.^[8] Such arrests are significantly safer than arresting the fugitive at their home, as the target will often be unarmed and off-guard.^[9]
Arranging for someone under the legal drinking or smoking age to ask an adult to buy an alcoholic beverage or tobacco products for them^[10]
Posing as a documentary film crew to lure a pirate to the country where a crime was committed.^[8]
Posting a newspaper advertisement seeking a type of rare item known to have been stolen. In 1998, three agencies joined forces to conduct a sting operation where they successfully recovered the Honduras Goodwill Moon Rock from a vault in Miami. The sting operation was known as "Operation Lunar Eclipse" and the participating agencies were NASA Office of Inspector General, the United States Postal Inspection Service and U.S. Customs. The moon rock was offered to the undercover agents for US$5 million. Journalist Christina Reed broke that story in Geotimes in 2002.^[11]^[12] Operation Lunar Eclipse and the Moon Rock Project were the subject of the book The Case of the Missing Moon Rocks by Joe Kloc.
Posing as a minor on the internet, luring and catching online predators in the act.^[13]^{[citation needed]}