Post by PhilOn Tue, 16 Oct 2007 20:58:41 -0700, Prisoner at War
Post by Prisoner at WarThere's supposed to be an Asian mugger on the loose in Crooklyn!
Just one? Out of all the muggers in Brooklyn, only one is Asian?
Thats not what he said.
Post by PhilSounds like a good group of people.
Phil, anyone who is not Black or Hispanic is OK in your book.
BTW.....
Asian Criminal Enterprises and Prostitution
http://usinfo.state.gov/eap/Archive_Index/Asian_Criminal_Enterprises_and_Prostitution.html
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.
-----------------------
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.
------------------------
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.
--
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and
carrying the cross." - Sinclair Lewis