Pipes Clogged Up With Used Condoms Lead Police To North Austin Prostitution Ring

NORTH AUSTIN, TX — A clogged waste pipe recently led to the discovery of more than just the obstruction but a prostitution ring operating in North Austin, according to reports.

No that's not some sort of exotic typographical error. First, some context: Tenants at a property that had been recently taken over by a new landlord had suspected a fellow tenant, Jade Massage Therapy LLC, 11400 block of North RM 620, was actually a front for prostitution, according to an affidavit referenced by the Austin American-Statesman.

But only if they could prove it with some sort of evidence. That evidence came to them in February with the force a geyser, and from an unlikely source: A clogged industrial disposal unit connecting the property to the sewer system that had been gumming up the works. It was crammed with hundreds of condoms.

That was the first clue that something was amiss.

Police were able to trace the disposed-of condoms to the massage parlor. Then, investigators learned a co-owner of the business, a woman named Juan Wang, was stopped by security at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport with $30,000 in cash wrapped in in several duct-taped bundles, according to an affidavit cited by the newspaper.

That's not exactly mom-and-pop-massage-salon type money, but screaming of ill-gotten gains. Thus, the plot thickened.

Wang was reportedly questioned, but she noted she earns about $20,000 a year through her "massage" business and had saved the cash for a needed medical procedure in China. When an officer observed she was carrying more than a year's worth of income, Wang became nervous and had trouble answering further questions, the newspaper reported.

Still, she was allowed to board her flight to China after providing officers with a contact number.

Investigators tracked the number to a Backpage.com account listing "Jade Massage" as purveyor of sexual services at a second location on Anderson Mill Road.

Long story short: Search warrants were secured, police subsequently found Wang in a "massage" room with a naked man, copies of receipts for services rendered for up to $120 beyond the standard $60 charge and $66,000 in cash inside a safe at the couple's home.

The ring started to unravel at that pint: Wang told police the dozen women working for her and her husband and business co-owner Joseph Emery said the women all lived with them at their home. Ledgers later found only listed the women by their first names. There were hundreds of credit card receipts from clients.

You get the picture.

Wang and her husband, Joseph Emery now face charges of engaging in organized criminal activity and money laundering, according to the report. Unlike their clients, their role in the whole saga didn't end with a "happy ending."

>>> Read the full story at Austin American-Statesman

Image via Shutterstock