Las Vegas prostitution arrests spike during Mayweather-McGregor fight weekend

Large-scale events in the Las Vegas Valley mean national media attention, a boost in tourism, and, according to Las Vegas police, a spike in prostitution-related crimes.

The Metropolitan Police Department said some 200,000 people descended upon Las Vegas during the recent megafight weekend. The three-day spectacle centered on Saturday night’s highly anticipated bout between Las Vegan Floyd Mayweather and Ultimate Fighting Championship star Conor McGregor.

“There was a huge spike in population last weekend,” Metro spokesman Jay Rivera said. “And with that comes prostitution.”

County booking logs show that 118 prostitution-related arrests were made between Friday and Sunday alone. Six arrests on Friday kicked off fight weekend, followed by 50 arrests Saturday and 62 arrests Sunday.

The first weekend of August, by contrast, had just 34 of these arrests.

“The arrests are usually prostitutes who don’t live here,” Rivera said. “During major weekends such as a fight weekend, they know there’s going to be more men coming into town than normal.”

Booking logs show a similar influx in these arrests during the May 2015 weekend when Mayweather traded jabs with Manny Pacquaio. Between May 1 and May 3 that year, Las Vegas police made 59 prostitution-related arrests.

Contact Rio Lacanlale at rlacanlale@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow @riolacanlale on Twitter.