SEATTLE - Nine people were arrested Thursday following a two-year
investigation into an international sex-trafficking ring that involved smuggling
Asian women into the U.S. in shipping containers, federal and local authorities
said.
The U.S. attorney's office in Seattle said the "highly organized national
network prostitution ring" illegally brought women here from China, Korea,
Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan and Laos.
Seven of the conspirators were arrested Thursday in Seattle and two in Los
Angeles, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney's office.
All were charged Thursday in U.S. District Court here. Eight are accused of
conspiracy to transport individuals in furtherance of prostitution and
conspiracy to transport and harbor illegal aliens. Four also are charged with
conspiracy to engage in money laundering. A ninth person is charged with
conspiracy to transport individuals in furtherance of prostitution.
If convicted, they face up to 20 years in prison.
Details on the prostitution ring surfaced in April 2004, when the police
raided a spa in Bellevue, Washington, after determining it was a front for
prostitution, federal officials said.
Investigators with the FBI, U.S. Customs and Enforcement, and Seattle police
spent the next 21 months using confidential informants, court-approved wiretaps,
and Global Positioning Satellite units to identify participants in the larger
operation.
According to court documents, Yong Jun Kang, 36, of Seattle, operated
brothels in Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, where he and others would bring Asian
women, most of whom were in the United States illegally.
After 10 to 14 days, the women would be taken to brothels in other cities,
investigators said.
In conversations with confidential informants, Kang said women were being
smuggled into the U.S. in shipping containers after paying as much as $50,000
(euro38,890). Some of the women, investigators said, were brought into the
United States by crossing the Canadian border.
The women were forced to pay debts to smugglers by working in brothels, the
U.S. attorney's office said.
Others accused in the operation are Zhenhua Liu, 51, of Seattle; and Penquan
Xie, 48, and Zhen Qu, 49, both of Los Angeles, who court documents say worked
for Kang as brothel managers. Lianchen Ning, 47, of Seattle, is accused of
transporting women between brothels and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
Rujng Jiang, 36, and her husband, Keshing Zhu, 38, both of Seattle, are
accused of operating an escort service in Seattle as a front for prostitution.
Also arrested were Thongyot Liamurai, 39, of Seattle, identified as a
prostitute for both Kang and Zhu and a close confident of Kang's, and Bing Wang,
identified as a manager at Liu's brothel.
