A Toronto man accused of running an international human trafficking ring was one of six people arrested this week following a multi-jurisdiction investigation spanning Canada, the U.S. and Australia.
Toronto police said Friday they were contacted by the FBI’s child exploitation task force last August about an alleged organized crime group behind a complex prostitution operation with tens of thousands of possible customers.
According to an indictment filed in the U.S., the FBI’s main suspect was Toronto-based Zongtao Chen, also known as Zong Tao Chen and Mark Chen.
The suspect allegedly led a criminal business that recruited women, primarily from China, to travel to the U.S. and elsewhere to engage in prostitution and other sex trafficking activities.
The indictment listed a number of international websites and the locations they advertised, including in Toronto, at Don Mills Rd. and Sheppard Ave. E., and in Calgary and Edmonton.
The international investigation began after nearly 20 anonymous tips came into Crime Stoppers of Oregon during the summer of 2016, according to the Oregonian.
“International prostitution ring operating in Portland,” a tip read, according to court documents reported by the newspaper. “When will you shut down this operation?’”
A person designated as a “boss” would oversee and manage a brothel in a hotel or apartment complex in the different cities the organization was operating, police said.
Customers looking for massages and escorts would call a number listed on www.supermatchescort.com or related websites, or send a message by text, email, or WeChat, an encrypted internet messaging service based in China.
The organization used dispatchers who would receive incoming requests from potential customers to set up “dates” with women working at the various brothels.
Dispatchers used a computer program to schedule and track all of the prostitution dates. This computer program had a customer database that logged more than 30,000 customer phone numbers with details from previous dates, police said.
Chen is accused of promoting illegal prostitution activities at brothels in three cities in Oregon — Portland, Tigard and Beaverton.
Undercover officers who set up “dates”’ on the websites were directed to sparsely furnished apartments with just a mattress in a bedroom along with a bedside stand filled with condoms, towels and bottles of oil and lubricants, FBI agent June Piniewski wrote in one search warrant affidavit, the Oregonian reported.
One woman who was waiting for an officer at one locations in Oregon told investigators she “just opens the door when a customer shows up and does whatever the customer says,” Piniewski wrote in the affidavit, according to the Oregonian.
A multi-jurisdictional takedown took place Tuesday in Canada, U.S. and Australia. The FBI shut down about 500 websites used by one of the alleged criminal enterprises, including www.supermatchescort.com, according to federal prosecutors.
“Protecting vulnerable foreign nationals from criminal traffickers seeking to exploit them for profit is a critically important law enforcement mission,” Billy J. Williams, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon, said in a news release.
“Trafficking adults for sex can at times be overlooked by our society because some believe the adult victims have a choice. This notion is false. These victims are powerless and often thousands of miles away from their home, native language and personal connections who might help them escape. We have always and will continue to aggressively pursue criminals who exploit vulnerable victims.”
Chen, 46, was located and found to be living in the GTA, Toronto police said.
Chen and five others are charged with conspiracy to use interstate facilities to engage in racketeering and promoting, managing and carrying out a racketeering enterprise.
Chen appeared in court Wednesday to face an extradition request from the U.S. government.
Police are concerned there may be more victims. Toronto police said it is continuing their investigation into Chen regarding human trafficking-related offences that have taken place here.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-7474, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477) or online at www.222tips.com.
Patrick Ho is a rewrite editor working on the Star’s digital desk in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @patrick_ho_007
Source:msn.com
