Massage parlors in and near Houston raided for prostitution

Deputies from the Galveston County Sheriff’s Department in Texas raided two massage parlors today accused of being fronts from prostitution and human trafficking.

The raids took place at Leela Thai Massage in Houston and Royal Thai Massage in League City, south of Houston, reports KPRC.

Under arrest is Ying Qui Yang Brown, 57, who is accused of aggravated promotion of prostitution. She is being held on $250,000 bond.

According to Galv News, authorities also raided her apartment.

Polaris which has operated a human trafficking hotline since 2007 says “It persists because we choose to ignore it — as something harmless, as something inevitable, or both: at best, a victimless crime. At worst, a public nuisance.

“The real story is much harder to ignore. The women trafficked in massage businesses are typically immigrants from China or South Korea, usually mothers between the ages of 35-55 who are looking for a way to support their families.

“They are often lied to or seriously misled about the type of work they’ll be doing by traffickers who know they have debts they need to pay or are otherwise in no position to say ‘no’ to a source of income.”

The group calls it a $2.5 billion dollar industry with more than 9,000 businesses in the U.S. By comparison, Starbucks has 8,200 stores nationwide.

More arrests could be made and more charges filed in the case. The raid is part of a joint operation between the Organized Crime Task Force, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations, Galveston County District Attorney’s Office, the FBI and Unbound, an anti-human trafficking organization.