It's all very sad and very predictable. Since the activity is illegal, criminals get involved, it's kind of inevitable. And people like that prey on the weak.
Not unlike the so-called war on drugs. Its main accomplishment has been the rise of multinational extremely powerful cartels. Drugs are illegal almost everywhere on earth and yet there is a flourishing international trade on every drug you can imagine that are never more than a phone call or two away. Drugs are illegal almost everywhere and yet almost anyone can get anything they want, not exactly a successful war, is it?
It is bizarre that there are still people who think you can stop others from doing what they want to do. We should be focussing efforts on protecting the innocent, let consenting adults do whatever the like with each other. They will anyway.