Sex TraffickingArchive 2008–2016

Sex Trafficking in South Seattle, Washington (2008)

A sex trafficking case from 2008 in South Seattle, Washington, United States.

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Documented on the original SlaveryMap (2008–2016). We don’t have a verifiable source on file yet. Know one?

What happened

Yong Kang, Kasheng Zhu, Rujing Jiang and Zhenhua Liu and five other people were srrested in conjunction with their alleged involvement in an international sex-trafficking rign that recruited prostitutes from several Asian countries and rotated them between brothels throughout the U.S. The arrests were made during early morning raids at 5 locations. Two were alleged brothels and one was an escort service run out of a private residence. The other locations were the homes of two defendants. Wiretaps employed from May 31 indicate that at least 40 Asian prostitutes worked brief stints at the Seattle-area brothels. Investigators said the women came from at least 9 different countries, including China, Malaysia, and Hong Kong. Some of the women came to the U>S> on legitimate visas and never left; some were transported in shipping containers. Some Korean women arrived in British Columbia illegally, and then were smuggled into the U.S.. Others came to the U.S. in forged visas. All nine defendants were charged in U.S. District Court in Seattle with conspiracy to transport individuals in furtherance of prostitution. Eight defendants were charged with conspiracy to transport and harbor illegal aliens, and four were charged with money laundering. The trafficked women traveled between Seattle and at least 15 other cities.

Response and intervention

For the wiretaps and for the arrests in 2004 and the arrests in August, 2008. In April 2004, an investigation by the Eastside Narcotics Task Force tied Kang, Zhu and Jiang to prostitution taking place at a business called the Apple Spa in Bellevue. Criminal charges in that case were not filed. Zhu was deported China.Jiang and Kang were determined to be in the U.S. illegally, but never appeared at immigration removal proceedings, according to investigators. No mention was made in the article as to whether the trafficked women were emancipated. Information is from an August 11, 2008 newspaper article from the Seattle Times. The article is titled "9 accused of involvement in global sex-trafficking ring".

Nearby cases

All 892 in the United States →

Sex Trafficking2006

Boulevard Park, Washington, United States, 2006

United States US

The 21-month investigation used confidential informants, court approved wiretaps, and GPS tracking to identify those involved with the sex trafficking ring. Information about the criminal activity first surfaced in April 2004 when the Eastside Narcotics Task Force raided the Apple Spa in Bellevue after determining it was a front for prostitution. Both KANG, JIANG, and ZHU had been involved in the operation of the Apple Spa. ZHU was deported to China as an illegal alien, but quickly returned illegally to the United States. KANG and JIANG failed to show up for deportation hearings. In December 2004, FBI agents in Portland learned KANG had resurfaced there and was operating a brothel. In the midst of the investigation in May 2005, KANG returned to Seattle and opened a brothel. In various conversations with confidential sources or on wiretapped telephone calls, conspirators discussed how the Asian women had been smuggled into the United States. KANG told one confidential informant that women were being smuggled into the U.S. in shipping containers, paying fees to smugglers of as much as $50,000. The investigation determined that some of the women were smuggled into the U.S. by illegally crossing the border from Canada. The women had to pay off their debts to the smugglers by working in brothels in cities across the country. One of the conspirators was recorded in a phone conversation saying she had lost a lot of money when smuggled women fled without working off their debt. Law enforcement was able to track tens of thousands of dollars going from the U.S. to possible smuggling “agents” in China who arrange for the women to be smuggled into the country. The investigation determined women working in the brothels were citizens of China, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan and Laos. The investigation is continuing into the brothel network in other U.S. cities.

Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016

CSEC2011

Seatac, Washington, United States, 2011

United States US

Tramble first came to the attention of law enforcement in or about August 2010, when Kent Police Department officers encountered a juvenile female working as a prostitute. This victim told police how Tramble beat and coerced her, and how he advertised her as a prostitute on Backpage.com. Further investigation by law enforcement revealed that Tramble forced numerous women to work for him as prostitutes. The case was investigated by the FBI’s Innocence Lost Task Force, which is composed of local, state and federal law enforcement officers who investigate juvenile prostitution. Key assistance was provided by the Kent Police Department.

Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016

CSEC2007

Seattle, Washington, United States, 2007

United States US

Sean Jarae Hart, also known as Hush, has been charged in an 11-count indictment with sex trafficking of a child for transporting a young girl across state lines for the purpose of prostitution. Between May 25 and June 5, 2006, Hart drove the young girl to various areas within Seattle and Everett for the purposes of prostitution. Also, from January-April 2006 Hart forced two women to travel between Washington and Nevada, to have them engage in prostitution and take their earnings. He was arrested in Oregan. Also charged in the indictment is Randy Wamon Ivey, who allegedly picked the girl up at Sea-Tac Airport on May 24 had her work for him as a prostitute. An unnamed co-conspirator arranged for the girl to fly from California to Seattle. Ivey is a fugitive.

Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016