Hong Wei, a.k.a. Ms. Chen, 38, from Flushing, NY; Jing Liang, a.k.a. Mike Chen, 31, from Quincy MA; Xiang Hua, a.k.a. Darren Zhang, 27, from Flushing NY; Yu En, a.k.a. Eric Jin, 26, from Quincy, MA; Dong Kai Chem, 41, from Quincy, MA. All were arrested March, 31st, 2010 after a police raid on the Quincy brothel. Two of these men were previously arrested in Aug. 2005 after a police raid on the Peabody brothel run by Ms. Chen & Mike Chen. These traffickers ran several brothels out of various apartments scattered throughout the greater Boston area including Peabody, Quincy, Boston, Wellesly, Newton, Watertown, Somerville, Woburn, Burlington,Medford, Stoneham, & Malden. Most of these brothels have been in operation for at least the past 5 1/2 years. The traffickers enticed Asian women to travel to Massachusettes where they were put to work as prostitutes. They advertised in Chinese language papers in California, New York, & Massachusettes and on Craig's list and in the Boston Pheonix under the female escort section. It is reported that they paid over $13,125 to the Boston Pheonix over a 7 month period. The traffickers transported women by bus to South Station and then by car to various brothels throughout the greater Boston area. The women were lured or tricked into prostitution, being told they would be doing other types of work, and were forced to stay with threats to themselves or other family members and physical abuse if they did not comply with the demands of Ms. Chen. They also forced older women to work as domestic servants in the apartments (brothels) to take care of house cleaning and upkeeping of the apartments and taking care of the younger women as well.
Location
United States · Quincy, Massachusetts · 2011 (location generalized to protect survivors)
Response & intervention
Boston, Qunicy, & Burlington police U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement Internal Revenue Service U.S. Department of Homeland Security There were two police raids on the Peabody brothel in Aug, 2005 and the Quincy brothel in Feb, 2009. Both raids led to arrests of the above traffickers who are now awaiting trial. They are facing a 14-count indictment with charges of sex-trafficking by force or coercion, harboring or concealing aliens, interstate travel in aid of racketeering, operating an unlicensed massage business, inducing travel to engage in prostitution, and forced labor.
There was a police raid of the Peabody apartment in Aug. 2005 which led to the arrests of two of the above traffickers. They were unable to find Ms. Chen or Mike Chen who were in charge of the brothel according to the victims. A police officer responded to an add in the Boston Pheonix for "the ultimate massage" and was offered sex for $180. In February, 2009 there was another police raid on the Quincy brothel where Ms. Chen was found and arrested. This raid led to the arrests and charges of all of the above traffickers.
After the first peabody raid in 2005, two Chinese women were arrested and charged with prostitution. They were unable to speak any english but refused to take a plea bargain and went to trial instead where they were convicted and they served a 6 month jail sentence. However, later it was discovered that they were victims of human trafficking and not prostitutes by choice as they were coerced into it and then forced to stay with threats. The other women found from the Quincy raid were also Chinese and some were illegal immigrants and most could not speak any English. Officials were unable to disclose whether the victims were ever granted T-visas.
Documented on the original SlaveryMap (2008–2016). We don't have a verifiable source on file yet — use “Report a problem” below to add one.