LOS ANGELES — It was a major show of force: Dozens of agents, some heavily armed, descending on Sean "Diddy" Combs' estates in Los Angeles and Miami.

Television news helicopters captured the action as Department of Homeland Security agents served a search warrant in what officials described as an investigation into alleged sex trafficking — claims the music legend denies.

Homeland Security investigators yelled for those inside the star's Holmby Hills mansion to come out with their hands in the air. Combs' adult sons later told their father they had lasers pointed at them as they emerged from the home, sources told The Times. Combs himself was in Florida at the time.

But much remains unknown about the case and how close authorities are to determining whether to file criminal charges.

Here is a rundown of what we know and what we don't:

What do we know about the searches?

Sources with knowledge of the operation who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss it publicly said it appears investigators searching Combs' Holmby Hills home emptied safes, dismantled electronics and left papers strewn in some rooms.

That tracks with what some legal experts expected investigators would seek if trying to build a sex trafficking case against the hip-hop mogul.

Dmitry Gorin, a former L.A. County sex crimes prosecutor who is now in private law practice, said investigators would likely seek authorization to "search for videos or photographs on any devices connected to the target ... anywhere where digital images can be found in connection to sexual conduct that would have been recorded."

It is unclear what was recovered in the bicoastal searches.

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