Five suspects have been arrested and 10 Asian sex trafficking victims freed after raids in Boston’s Chinatown, Quincy, North Reading and Cambridge in Massachusetts, reports the Boston Herald.
The victims being sold for sex worked 12 hours a day and spoke very little English.
Prosecutors say the women were taken from brothel to brothel and not allowed to leave.
“They are given food and after a couple of weeks, they’re taken to another brothel location.” said prosecutor Nancy Rothstein.
All the victims were believed to have come from Flushing, NY.
LATEST STORIES
WCVB reports raids were conducted Thursday in Quincy, Boston, Cambridge and North Reading.
The homes were sparsely furnished with just mattresses and were equipped with surveillance cameras.
Four of the suspects were arraigned on Thursday. The fifth is expected to be arraigned today.
Pingxia Fan, 40, of Chinatown, Timothy Hayes, 50, of Gloucester and Simon Shimao Lin, 59, of Chinatown are being held on $150,000 bail.
Robert Mozer, 65, of Deerfield, N.H. was held on $50,000 bail.
Biqun Xiao, 47, of Deerfield, N.H. is expected to be arraigned today.
Prosecutors believe the suspects took in $1 million dollars since their probe started in January. They allegedly charged $100 for 15 minutes and $160 for an hour. They attracted their johns with pictures of scantily clad Asian woman on Backpage.com.
AsAmNews has Asian America in its heart. We’re an all-volunteer effort of dedicated staff and interns. You can show your support by liking our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/asamnews, following us on Twitter, sharing our stories, interning or joining our staff.