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Asian Criminal Enterprises and Prostitution

By Sergeant Marcus Frank
Special Investigations Unit
Intelligence/Organized Crime
Westminster Police Department, California

Background

Prostitution has often been called "the world's oldest profession," and references to this type of activity can be found in the writings or drawings of history's earliest civilizations. In Asia, prostitution as an organized business has existed for thousands of years and the activity was rarely seen as being criminal in nature. Prostitution was considered one of vice activities usually referred to as the "water trades" because businesses of this nature were often concentrated near waterfront areas in order to take advantage of the high level of traffic arriving by boats and ships. In the early history of Asia, water transport was the quickest and most efficient means of travel. Cities and towns over time formalized these areas into specified districts where the "water trades" were practiced.

Prostitution was accepted by the societies of Asia as a lower class profession, and prostitutes were viewed as workers in that profession, not criminals. An especially accomplished and clever prostitute could even gain a high level of respect and admiration in Asian society. Many of these more talented girls eventually became concubines or mistresses for nobles or wealthy merchants. It was a commonly accepted practice for males, both married and single, to frequent houses of prostitution that often offered various entertainments along with the opportunity for paid sex. Houses would be ranked in status depending on their clientele. Brothels that catered to the wealthy often had the youngest and prettiest of the females. As the girls grew older and more "worn," they would be moved into lower class houses until finally ending up in locations servicing common laborers, soldiers and sailors. Prostitutes were seen as the "property" of the house, and could be sold or dealt with at the whim of the owner. Poor families in rural areas often "sold" their daughters to brothels if they needed money, and it was not considered especially heinous by society. Daughters were viewed as less valued members of the family, and if the parents could not afford to support them, the sale put the girls into a profession where they could earn a living. In some cases, families trained their daughters in various arts such as music or painting so she could be sold to one of the higher status brothels.

Even in early histories of Asia, there is evidence that houses of prostitution were tremendous moneymakers. Rivalries between competing houses were intense, and there was always an underground movement to control the trade because of the economic benefits. The owners of the brothels often became wealthy in a very short period of time.

The amount of money generated by prostitution activities attracted the attention of organized crime elements in both Asian and Occidental cultures. The eventual criminalization of prostitution in Western countries placed organized crime syndicates in the best position to set up and operate brothels in a surreptitious manner.

Early History in the United States

Control of prostitution activities by Asian criminal enterprises started in the mid to late 1800's with the influx of Chinese laborers to the west coast to work on the railroads. As "Chinatowns" became established in various cities, Chinese organized crime syndicates, operating as Tong or Triad elements, began to arrange for the importation of Asian females into the United States to service the growing male Chinese population. Their efforts were often aided by American big business involved in building the railroads that wanted to keep their low paid laborers happy.

The early brothels were located within the Chinatown business districts and catered to an exclusively Asian clientele. The females imported by the Asian criminal enterprises often spoke no English, which severely limited their ability to leave the prostitution profession. The organized crime elements controlling the brothels also tried to keep the prostitutes dependant on them in order to keep the girls working and maximizing the money that could be made. As American law enforcement authorities began to target vice activities occurring within the Asian communities, the Asian organized crime elements moved to conceal their operations from the police. These efforts included the hiring of young Asian boys to act as lookouts for locations being used as brothels, gambling parlors or opium dens. These young boys were referred to as "look-see" boys and it was their job to alert locations when Occidental police officers were in the area. (A number of these "look-see" boys became street gang members when they got older. One-time "look-see" boys started the "Joe Boys" out of San Francisco in the 1960's.)

As the immigrant populations in the United States grew, other Asian ethnic groups migrated and established their own enclaves. They also brought with them variations of vice activities that were acceptable in their countries, but criminalized here. The Korean immigrants brought with them the concept of "hostess" (B-Girl) bars where attractive club hostesses would sit with, and solicit drinks from, customers. As long as the customer continued to buy high priced drinks, the hostess would sit with him. Often, if the customer made the right monetary offer, the "hostess" would engage in an act of prostitution.

The influx of the Southeast Asian refugees (Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos) in the 1970's led to the establishment of communities made up of ethnic groups from those countries in the United States. Prostitution had become commonplace in those countries during the Vietnam War years to service the military presence, and the general population accepted it as just another element of society. When the refugee populations established itself in the United States, brothels started to show up with females that catered to their particular ethnic group in these Asian communities. Although prostitution was known to be illegal, there was still a large customer base from ethnic communities where it was not seen as criminal in nature. As such, prostitution activities brought in a tremendous amount of money causing organized crime elements to want to control the industry.

Current Activities

In early 2000, the U.S. State Department reported to Congress that more than one million women and girls were being smuggled across international borders each year and forced into prostitution. Approximately 20% of those females were brought into the U.S. According to the United Nations, the trafficking of human beings has become a $9 billion a year profit generating business.

In California, over 80% of the Asian brothels (using Asian female prostitutes and catering to Asian male customers) are controlled by Asian organized crime or Asian street gang syndicates. Many of the houses of prostitution are set up and financed by Asian organized crime groups who in turn contract out to Asian street gangs for enforcers, collectors and protection. Often times other criminal activities are offered to customers within the brothels such as gambling devices or access to narcotics. There have also been cases where identity theft has occurred from customers in the brothel while they were "occupied," and cases where customers have been solicited for bank fraud or credit card "bust out" operations.

Recruitment

The females in brothels controlled by Asian criminal enterprises are often smuggled into the Untied States with false papers, passport switches or "sham" marriages. In some cases, the females are already in the prostitution trade working in bars, nightclubs or brothels in Asia. These females are recruited with the knowledge they are going to work as prostitutes in the United States, but anticipate making far more money than they are currently earning. This is especially true with girls recruited out of Thailand where there is an already established sex industry. Due to the large numbers of Thai females working in that industry, the youngest and prettiest are able to work in the "A" class establishments catering to foreign tourists and earning the most money. Older, less attractive Thai girls are relegated to "B" class locations, where the bars and nightclubs are more rundown and the clientele is of a lower economic status. The females in the "B" class are much more amenable to being smuggled into the U.S. to work as prostitutes as they can earn far more money.

Other Asian females are lured into allowing themselves to be smuggled into the U.S. with false promises of legitimate jobs in the manufacturing or service industry. Once they arrive, they are told there are no jobs available. They are further told they speak limited English, have no legal papers and owe thousands of dollars to the smugglers who brought them here. Such coercion is usually sufficient to force the girls into prostitution without additional threats of physical violence. In cases where the females are still resistive, they are told their family members in Asia are responsible for the smuggling fees, and that physical violence might occur over there if the debt remains unpaid. Or the female is simply raped by members of the Asian criminal enterprise until she agrees to work as a prostitute.

Recent cases out of southern California have revealed Asian criminal enterprises using Hispanic prostitutes recruited in Tijuana, Mexico to work in the Asian brothels servicing Asian male clients. The Hispanic females were usually already working as prostitutes in the red light districts in Tijuana, and were offered the opportunity to make more money in the U.S. The females were smuggled across the land border and put into a brothel to work for six months. They received a percentage for each customer, but were not paid until the end of their six-month term when they received their entire "cut" in one lump sum. The girls were then taken back across the border and new Hispanic girls were recruited. The use of these non-Asian females allowed the Asian syndicates to promote their brothels as being "exotic" and "unique."

Smuggling

The criminal organizations involved in smuggling the females into the U.S. for the purposes of prostitution are not always the same syndicates involved in operating the brothels. There are Asian criminal enterprises that specialize in only the smuggling aspect, and then "sell" the girls once they arrive in the states. These smugglers are referred to as "snakeheads." Some of the largest conspiracies include Chinese organized crime groups bringing in females from China and Malaysia. The New York based "Fuk Ching" crime group specializes in alien smuggling from Asia, charging between $20,000 and $35,000 for each girl brought in. The Asian organized crime groups operating houses of prostitution "purchase" the girls for that amount, and the females then have to work off the debt by engaging in prostitution. The smuggling syndicates work closely with Asian criminal enterprises involved in the prostitution industry, and are sometimes asked to recruit girls "to order." (From specific ethnic groups, or of specific ages, etc). Younger girls are especially prized and sought after. In the immigrant population of older Asian males, there is a common belief that sex with a young female causes an increase in energy and vigor, allowing the man to regain some of his youth. Customers will pay financial premiums for a very young female if one is available in the brothel. The ultimate sale is a young girl who is a virgin, or who can be passed off as a virgin. There are documented cases out of Hong Kong where wealthy older Chinese males have paid brothel owners as much as $100,000 for a night with such a girl. Other Asian criminal syndicates recruit their own girls in Asia, smuggle them into the United States, and then feed the girls into houses of prostitution the syndicates have set up in various cities.

The smuggling is usually accomplished in one of four ways. Use of forged documents, ticket or passport swaps, sham marriages or surreptitious entry across borders.

Forged Documents - This is one of the most common tactics used by the snakeheads. Visas and passports are easily forged in the countries of Asia with the going rate of $5000-$10,000 for a U.S passport. Passports from other countries are cheaper, and are preferred in some cases under the belief that American immigration officials are not as familiar with foreign documentation. When forged papers are used, the most common means of travel is by air. Depending on the level of law enforcement attention, the most common cities for entry are New York (NY), Los Angeles (CA), San Francisco (CA), Seattle (WA), Las Vegas (NV), Boston (MA) and Honolulu (HI). The smugglers will try and arrange flights on large aircraft with maximum passenger loads arriving at peak hours of the day in order to blend in with the crowd. They also anticipate large passenger loads will mean rushed Immigration officials paying less attention as they try to process a large number of people in a limited time frame.

Females being smuggled in this manner are usually brought in groups of three to seven, and are accompanied by a handler referred to as a "jockey." The "jockey" can be male or female, and is part of the criminal syndicate handling the smuggling. The "jockey" keeps all of the forged documents for the females until just before going through Immigration. The girls are then told to separate themselves while going through Immigration processing in order to blend in with other passengers. As soon as the females clear Immigration and Customs, the "jockey" collects the forged documents from all of them and directs them towards ground transportation waiting to meet them. In some cases, if the female wants to work off her smuggling debt faster, she may opt to try and smuggle in narcotics for the criminal syndicate in her personal effects.

Ticket or Passport Swaps - These require the cooperation of someone with legitimate documents who is willing to make some quick money on the side. Ticket swaps occur when the an "international" flight is purchased for the female prostitute to a country other than the U.S. (From Thailand to Vietnam for example). The female checks in and shows her valid identification at the flight counter. She then eventually ends up in the International Flight waiting area of the airport. At the same time, a legal U.S. resident visiting Asia (usually with some expenses paid by the syndicate) checks in for a prepaid flight made in her name to the U.S. using her U.S. documents. She also eventually ends up in the International Flight waiting area. At this point, the tickets are switched and the prostitute boards the U.S. bound aircraft using the flight ticket of the U.S. resident. Once on the flight, the ticket is torn up and thrown away. The smugglers know that once airline counter check-in is complete; no further checks are made on boarding passengers for flights. They also anticipate that U.S. Immigration will not check ticketed names on the flight against the actual passengers coming through.

The passport swap also requires a U.S legal resident who is willing to give up her passport, which is later reported as stolen. The criminal syndicate will target U.S. residents who match the physical characteristics of the prostitute being smuggled. The U.S resident is then offered an all expense paid trip to Asia in return for the use of her passport. Once in Asia, the passport is turned over to the snakehead where it is eventually used by the prostitute to enter the U.S. Once the prostitute has managed to get past Immigration, the U.S. resident still in Asia is notified that she can now report her passport as stolen and apply for a new one as the embassy.

Sham Marriages - Often used to smuggle women in from Vietnam and Korea, it requires the cooperation of a male U.S resident. In the case of Vietnam, the male subject is offered a free trip to Vietnam along with a cash bonus. Occasionally the male is also allowed to have sex with the female. Once in Vietnam, the male "marries" the female and applies to bring her legally into the U.S. After the female arrives in the states, a quick "divorce" is arranged and the Asian criminal syndicate picks her up. In the case of Korea, the females attempt to target U.S. military personnel for marriage. In the same manner, once the female arrives in the U.S., a "divorce" occurs and the girl moves into the prostitution circuit.

Surreptitious Entry - Most commonly used by Chinese females being smuggled in by Chinese organized crime syndicates. Many of the females brought in by this manner come via the large freighters that the Asian criminal syndicates arrange in Asia. The ship anchors off U.S. shores, and smaller boats meet it to shuttle in the aliens. Most of the females on these large boats arrive believing they are going to work in sweatshops or restaurants. The crime syndicates will select the youngest and most attractive females in any boatload and force them into prostitution to pay off their debt. Due to increased U.S. law enforcement attention, many of these freighters are now offloading on Mexican or Central American shores, and the females are smuggled in across U.S/Mexican land borders. There have also been cases of females coming into Canada claiming "political asylum" because of China's "one child" policy. (Due to over population, China allows each family only one child. Additional children cause the government to penalize the family, usually economically. Due to that penalty, Chinese females claim they are discriminated against because they want more children, and that claim suffices for Canadian asylum claims). Once in Canada, the females are smuggled across the land border into the U.S.

The Houses

The locations where the brothels are housed vary depending on the geographic areas. In southern California, the Asian criminal enterprises prefer multi bedroom apartments or houses located in quiet middle class residential areas. The crime syndicates believe that law enforcement surveillance can be more easily spotted in quiet residential streets with few cars. In apartment complexes, the prostitutes are often passed of as family members sharing the same apartment. (A common practice in California). In some cases, the apartment is used only for the prostitution activity, and the girls are brought in every day to work. With houses, the girls usually reside at the location also. In cities on the east coast, it is still common to find brothels set up in the "Chinatown" or "Koreatown" business districts.

The locations are usually very sparsely furnished. They almost always have a 'waiting area" with a couch or chairs, and a TV for customers to watch while waiting. In all of the Asian brothels we have investigated, there is also always a container with hot tea that is served to customers. Some of the locations have had gambling machines in the waiting area for customer to use, and at least one had a pay phone. There may also be Asian language pornographic videos or magazines available for customers to peruse.

The bedrooms areas usually contain only a mattress on the floor covered with a sheet and a single pillow. On top of the sheet is a small bath towel that is taken away to be laundered after each customer. The sheet on the mattress is usually laundered only once a week. One of the indicators of prostitution activity is large quantities of cheap bath towels kept in stacks throughout the brothel. If the location has a washer and dryer, a check of the inside will usually reveal only towels. The clothes of the prostitutes are often cleaned at a different location.

The windows of the bedrooms are covered with blankets or other material to prevent anyone from seeing inside. Many of the brothels have a plug in light in the bedroom that produces a low level blue or red light ("mood lighting"). There may also be a small dresser containing oils, creams and lotions. In earlier cases condoms were provided in every room at all times. Due to police reports and prosecutions that use the presence of large number of condoms as evidence of prostitution activity, the Asian criminal syndicates are now concealing the boxes with condoms and parcel them out one at a time for each customers. When finished, the condom is immediately disposed of to eliminate evidence if the police arrive with a search warrant. Boxes of condoms, or loose wrapped condoms, have been recovered in places like concealed wall openings, hot water tank closets, attics, inside food or beverage containers, inside freezers or refrigerators, in cars parked in the area, in hollowed out books, inside toilet tanks, concealed in furniture and inside stoves.

If the girls are living at the location, there is usually evidence of significant take-out food in the kitchen areas. The enforcers at the location are also responsible for doing food runs if the girls are not free to leave the location. Cooking, if allowed, is usually limited to what can be made using a rice cooker. In one rental house that was being used, there was no stove so suspects rolled in a propane barbecue for cooking. The barbecue was cheaper than buying a gas stove.

Entry to the locations is strictly controlled. If a house is being used, there is usually an iron security gate or grill covering the front entrance. In apartments, the door is kept dead bolted from the inside. These steps are taken in order to protect the location from robbery teams, and to give people inside time to hide contraband or put on clothing if the police are trying to gain entry. The front door usually has a peephole for enforcers to use to see people waiting to get in. There may also be a coded phrase, knock or doorbell sequence required before customers are let in. Some locations have been found with closed circuit TV cameras covering the front door areas.

The females inside the houses can be of any Asian ethnic origin. If being kept against their will, the enforcer for the location will keep windows and bedroom doors locked and secure from the outside. A good sign of involuntary servitude is deadbolt locks installed on bedroom doors with the keyhole facing inward. There have also been cases where females have been found actually chained to furniture in a room to limit their movement. Chains and other restraints are used only in the most extreme cases where threats against a girl's family have proved ineffective, or in cases where the girl has attempted to run.

If the girls are docile or thoroughly intimidated, they may occasionally be let out to do simple shopping, but an enforcer and his fellow gang members will always accompany them. The girls are often provided with pre-paid phone cards with which they can call home to family members. They may have false identifications to provide the police if arrested, or will simply make up names if the criminal syndicate keeps their paperwork.

The fee for an act of prostitution runs between $90 and $125 dollars. If the girl is paying off a smuggling debt, that entire amount may go to the house although only 30% is credited to the girl's account. The remaining 70% goes to the Asian criminal syndicates to run and maintain the house. These percentage rules are not the same for every location. The girl is allowed to keep any monetary tips from customers above and beyond the original fee. The initial fee is collected at the front door by the enforcer who is responsible for tracking the number of customers and the amounts paid. The number of customers per girls is usually written in coded form. The most common code we have encountered is the "box" code. The first name (usually Americanized like "Lily" or "Jennifer") is written along with a partial date (9/18). Each customer equals one line in a four-sided box. The fifth customer is shown as a diagonal line across the face of the box. A new box is then started if the girl takes a sixth customer. . Sometimes the percentage amount that goes to the prostitute is also indicated on the line ("3" or "30" for thirty percent), or the actual dollar amount is put down ("15" for $15). In some brothels the girls can stop taking customers after servicing specific number. In others, especially the locations with girls held in servitude, they must take as many customers as the criminal syndicate orders

If the Asian prostitutes in the brothel are working there voluntarily, they may be paid their percentage at the end of every night. The percentage to the house with these type girls is also often lower, in the 50-60% range. This is due to the brothel wanting to keep the girls working for them and not moving to a competitor's location for more money. In the prostitution houses where Vietnamese gang members used Mexican prostitutes from Tijuana, although the females were voluntary prostitutes, they were not paid until the end of their six-month term. Just prior to being brought back across the border, the girls were given their percentage cut for six months in one lump sum. We believe this was also done to keep the girls working at the one particular location. They would be less likely to walk away and find work in another brothel if they risked losing the money being kept for them.

Front Businesses

In order to conceal activities from law enforcement, a number of Asian criminal enterprises have established supposedly legitimate business "fronts" as a means of operating their brothels. These houses of prostitution disguise themselves as massage parlors, chiropractic doctor's offices, modeling studios, accu-pressure clinics, skin care clinics and physical therapy offices.

One of the more common fronts in southern California is the chiropractic office. Chiropractic doctors are approached by the Asian criminal syndicate and are offered $200-$1000 a month for use of their name. The syndicate then opens the chiropractic office in another city using the doctor's name. Among services offered by chiropractors is massage using massage therapists. Because the "therapist" is operating under the doctor's license, she is often not required to obtain massage permits from the local cities. Nor is the location required to obtain a conditional use permit as a massage parlor.

Once the location is established, they advertise heavily for "massage." Customers arriving for massage never see the chiropractor (who rarely if ever visits the location). They pay $50 to $100 for a "massage," and once in the massage room are offered sex acts for additional "tips." This type of operation is very favored by Korean organized crime groups using Korean females.

Brothels disguised as massage parlors are used by all of the Asian organized crime syndicates. ("Accu-pressure" is just another name for massage.) Customers going in pay for a simple massage from the prostitutes. They are usually told something like 'fifty dollars for one half hour of massage." Once inside the room with the "masseuse," the customers gets a very cursory five minute rub and is then solicited for sex in return for "tips." If the customer declines the sex act, the massage is over and there is no recourse for receiving less than thirty minutes of massage. If the police raid the location, the explanation given by the organizers is that they only charge for massage and what the girls do on their own inside the rooms is done without the knowledge or permission of the business.

A recent trend noticed in these type Asian brothels in California is prostitutes not verbally soliciting a sex act. They simply perform the act and then collect money afterwards. The belief is that American police officers cannot engage in a sex act in their attempt to make a case for prostitution. This method of prostitution has been very effective in identifying undercover police operatives. As most of the brothels have gang enforcers, the money for the sex act is almost always collected without problem after the fact.

Customers

Customers for Asian criminal syndicate controlled brothels in Southern California are almost 90% Asian. If the location is housing females kept against their will, they will accept only Asian customers. This is done to reduce the risk of American undercover officers gaining access to the locations. Also, because of the cultural overall acceptance of these brothels, Asian customers are far less likely to cooperate with law enforcement authorities in shutting down the location.

There are a number of methods used to solicit customers for the houses of prostitution. One way is through use of Asian language newspaper ads for "massage" listing a phone number to call for more information. Another method is using street gang members to pass the word in cafes, restaurants, poll halls and nightclubs about the existence of the brothel. To do this, innocuous looking business cards are printed up with something like "Tony's Car Repair" or "Bill's Stereos." The cards contain no other information other than a phone number and there is no address listed on the cards for these supposed businesses. The phone number is actually the contact number for the brothel and usually goes to a cell phone or pager requiring the caller to provide a call back number. This makes it difficult for the police to identify the suspects or their locations. Customers solicited in cafes or other businesses are given the card and told to call the number for a good time. They may be given additional cards to pass out to their friends. The fictitious name on the card is to throw off the police if the card is later found in the possession of the customer. The key here is the lack of business address on the cards.

If the customer is a first timer, he will not be allowed to come directly to the brothel. He will usually be asked who referred him or how he got the number he called. If using one of the fictitious business cards, the customer will be asked what the name of the "business" is on the face of the card. The customer will then be directed to a parking lot area near the site of the house of prostitution where he is met by one of the gang members serving as enforcers for the house. At this time the customer will be asked a series of questions to determine if he is a police operative. The customer will be asked where he works, where he lives, questions about his employer and other personal questions. He may be asked to produce business cards from his employer or paycheck stubs to prove his story. Once the enforcer feels the subject is legitimate, he will have the customer follow him over to the brothel, or he will arrange transportation to the location. (Several brothels we have investigated had limited parking available in the area, so customers were directed to a parking park some distance away and were picked up in groups of three or four to be delivered to the house.) After the customer's first time, he will be provided with a code number. The next time the customer calls the contact number, he provides the code and is then told the location of the brothel. The Asian controlled houses of prostitution move frequently to stay ahead of the police and customers calling in have to be constantly updated.

Inside the brothel, depending on the level of activity, the customer may select from several girls available, or he may specify a favorite. After paying the enforcer at the door, always in cash, the customer is directed to a shower to get clean. In the meantime, the enforcer will provide the prostitute with a condom. The organizations operating the houses do not encourage a lot of idle conversation between the girls and the customers. They do not want customers to "fall in love" and get foolish ideas about getting these girls out of the business.

Enforcers

There are usually between one and four Asian street gang members serving as enforcers inside the brothels at any given time. They are paid by the organized crime syndicates to collect money from customers, to protect the locations from robberies, to keep the girls and customers in line, and spot police surveillance in the area. It is not uncommon during peak hours for the brothels to have a car with one or two gang members constantly cruising the surrounding area looking for police surveillance.

The enforcers are rotated often between houses in order to keep them from growing too fond of any of the female prostitutes. They are usually allowed to have sex with any of the prostitutes without paying as an additional benefit. The enforcers usually have access to firearms nearby although not necessarily on their person. The weapons are more for resisting robbery attempts and intimidating customers than for use against the police. In houses where females are being held against their will, enforcers are allowed to take whatever action necessary to ensure compliance short of damaging the girl's looks.

Asian street gangs and organized crime syndicates involved in the prostitution industry in Southern California include Black Dragons, Orange Boys, Kool Boyz, Wah Ching, Red Door, United Bamboo, Mongolian Boy Society and V Boyz.

The Mongolian Boy Society (MBS) street gang out of Fresno was the first Asian street gang to force females into prostitution as part of a "sexing in" to be part of the gang. The females were from the Fresno area and did not have to be smuggled into the country. MBS is a primarily Hmong in makeup, and male members set out to lure Asian females as young as 12 years old to join the gang. As the female juveniles began to associate with the gang, they were told they would have to be "sexed in" to the gang. Many of the girls resisted and were subsequently gang raped. After the rape by gang members, the girls were put into motel rooms or apartments and were forced into prostitution by the male gang members. The gang was able to charge top dollar, as many of the girls were very young. Some of the customers had reservations about the girl's seeing their faces due to possible criminal exposure for having sex with a female as young as 12, so the gang created "doing the ninja." This is where the girl's face is covered during the sex act and the customer is told to fantasize about her looks. Customers later arrested claimed they had no idea the girls were so young as they never saw faces.

The Circuit

There is an underground communications network that exists between all of the Asian criminal enterprises involved in the prostitution industry. This enables the various syndicates to buy, sell and trade girls between various cities. This constant movement of females into various brothels allows the syndicates to always be able to offer "new faces." It also prevents the girls being held against their will from forming any long-term associations with either enforcers or customers that might aid them to get away. If the brothel is raided and the girls get arrested, they often will provide false names or papers to the police. They are usually released after the criminal syndicate posts their bail and the girls can immediately flee to another city on the circuit to continue working. Arrest warrants issued by the police for jumping bail are often issued in the girl's false or fictitious name and provide no authority for extradition if the girls are found out of state.

The girls are moved by the Asian criminal enterprises using land transport such as cars, or by planes. At least one of the Asian gangs involved in the prostitution industry used plane tickets purchased with stolen credit card numbers to fly the prostitutes to various cities. The criminal syndicates make the travel arrangements using third party names, false papers and cash payments. In the case of the young girls forced into prostitution by the Mongolian Boy Society, there is some evidence that a knock out drug similar to rohypnol was used to incapacitate the girls before traveling with them on the circuit.

The circuit includes every major city in the United States with a significant Asian ethnic element. The areas showing the most activity include Orange County, Los Angeles and San Francisco in California, Seattle, Washington; Phoenix, Arizona; Las Vegas, Nevada; Dallas and Houston, Texas; New Orleans, Louisiana; Chicago, Illinois; Washington DC; Boston, Massachusetts; New York, New York; Miami, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia; and Vancouver and Toronto in Canada.

Money Laundering

The money generated by brothels runs into thousands of dollars a week. One of the pimps arrested in a Westminster case had $100,000 in cash in his possession at time of arrest. As prostitution is a cash business, those funds usually have to be laundered in some manner. Some of the Asian crime syndicates use the cash for other criminal activities such as financing narcotics buys, setting up gambling operations, funding loan sharking banks, etc. Other funds are laundered using legitimate high volume cash businesses such as nail salons, video rental shops, Asian coffee shops or cafes and pool halls.

Older members of Asian crime syndicates have also been found purchasing real property such as land or houses using money from prostitution operations. The property is bought using third parties, in some cases people related by blood to the syndicate member. The third parties are paid a cash amount for the use of their name and signature on documents. When questioned as part of an investigation, these third party subjects will claim to be part of an informal financial investment group common to their particular culture. These third parties will claim the property was purchased by a group of 10 to 20 families all pooling their funds to make an investment, and that the third party is just allowing their name to be used as part of the investment group.

As such investment groups are common in the cultures of Asia, it is often difficult to disprove the third parties claim. Especially as there is rarely paperwork of any type associated with formation of the group.

Additional Issues

The girls smuggled in for a life of involuntary servitude often discover that even after the smuggling debt is paid off, that they cannot get away from the control of the Asian organized crime syndicates. In some cases, the girls discover that they can never pay off their debt as the syndicates charge them for local transportation, food, shelter and clothing. These "cost" are always very inflated, and continue to increase the amount of debt the girl is responsible for.

In other cases, the Asian criminal enterprise allows the smuggling debt to be paid off, but then points out to the girl that she is still here illegally without papers and with limited language skills. The crime groups turn the female into a "voluntary" prostitute and keep her on the circuit. As the girls get older and more "worn," the criminal syndicates offer them other employment in criminal fields such as recruiting other girls, transporting narcotics, working as a "madam" in the brothels or aiding in money laundering operations.

The girls smuggled into the United States by the Asian organized crime syndicates with dreams of a better life and more economic opportunity discover very quickly that they have traded a life with some freedom in Asia for a life of virtual slavery in the United States.

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Author's note: I would like to offer special thanks to Kris Yoshida of the California Department of Justice and Sgt Len Gleim of the Fresno (CA) Police Department for their assistance in providing information used here.

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Sergeant Marcus Frank is a twenty-two year veteran of the Westminster, California Police Department and is the supervisor of the Special Investigations Unit handling Intelligence and Asian Organized Crime investigations. His city contains the Little Saigon district, which holds the largest concentration of Southeast Asian businesses in the United States.

Frank holds a Bachelors Degree in Criminal Justice from California State University at Fullerton and is a certified instructor in the field of Asian Gangs and Southeast Asian Culture for the state of California. He instructs in those fields for the University of Southern California (USC), for the California District Attorney's Association, for the California Commission on Peace Officer's Standards and Training, and for the Orange County Peace Officer's Academy.

Frank has been qualified as an expert in the field of Asian Gangs and Asian Organized Crime in the Superior or District courts for the states of California, Colorado, Idaho, Texas and Florida. He has conducted specialized training in Asian Gangs for law enforcement officers and district attorneys in 24 states. He has also done training for constables and crown prosecutors in four of Canada's provinces, for the State Judicial Police in the state of Baja California in the Republic of Mexico, for the Bavarian State Police in the province of Bavaria in the Federal Republic of Germany, and for the General Department of the People's Police in Hanoi, Vietnam.

The paper published here is an edited version of a paper presented at the 24th International Asian Organized Crime Conference held in Chicago, Illinois, March 25-39, 2002.

Reprinted with the consent of the author. Do not duplicate without consent of the author.