Bust Of Statewide Sex Ring Aided By Local Police

RENTON, WA - Federal and local law enforcement made six arrests on Thursday in a bust-up of an sex trafficking organizing that was allegedly operating in locations across Washington state. Police from Renton, Bellevue, Seattle, Kirkland Puyallup, Tukwila, and Redmond - plus the King and Snohomish county sheriff's offices - helped make the arrests and shut down alleged brothels. According to federal officials, the prostitution ring was earning hundreds of thousands of dollars trafficking Asian women.

The arrests carried out Thursday include: Fang Wang, 28, of Queens, N.Y., who was allegedly the leader of the ring; Youngguang Wu, 27, of Seattle; Yunzhong Chen, 44, of Seattle; Yaoan He, 32, of Seattle; Zhaofeng Zhang, 22, of Seattle; and Steven Thompson, 59, of Renton.

Federal officials allege:

• Wang spent $100,000 to advertise prostitution services on the website Backpage.com.
• The gang set up brothels around Puget Sound and in Eastern Washington. Prostitution occurred in hotels and apartments in Bellevue, Kent, Kirkland, Lynnwood, Olympia, Lacey, Puyallup, Renton, Tukwila, Seattle, Federal Way, Richland, Kennewick, Wenatchee, and Spokane.
• The funneled requests through call centers, two of which were allegedly located in Washington, D.C., and New York.
• Federal and local law enforcement search 30 locations around Washington on Thursday in connection to the bust.
• U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes is seeking charges of conspiracy to use a communication facility to promote prostitution; that charge carries up to a five-year prison sentence and a $250,000 fine.

Image via Shutterstock