Federal prosecutors today charged four people with transporting Asian women from the east and west coasts to Johnson County to engage in prostitution.
The charges came after a high-profile series of raids Thursday in which 15 women were rescued from 12 massage parlors.
According to federal courts records, authorities received tips that some of those charged today “were coercing, enticing and exploiting Chinese women to reap a fortune for themselves.”
Another tip stated that the women were smuggled from China and rotated out of Johnson County through San Francisco every 20 days.
Those charged today:
•Ling Xu, Zhong Yan Liu and Cheng Tang, who operate two Johnson County shops, China Rose Massage and China Villa, both in Overland Park, and a home that authorities believe was used both for prostitution and to house the women who worked for them.
•Hongmei Madole, who owns Asian Touch Massage in Olathe.
Each is charged with a violation of the Mann Act, a federal law that prohibits the transportation of a woman across state lines for prostitution or other illegal sexual crimes.
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