SAN GABRIEL VALLEY : 10 Arrested at 3 Houses in Asian Sex Ring Probe

Federal and local authorities raided three suspected houses of prostitution in the San Gabriel Valley on Thursday, arresting three men and seven women alleged to have ties to an international Asian crime syndicate.

Most of those arrested were Mainland Chinese nationals, although they included a Thai and a Malaysian, all of whom were in the country illegally, said Sgt. Tom Budds of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, who works the Asian Organized Crime Unit.

The suspects are believed to have links to the Fu Qing gang, long known for smuggling Chinese illegally to the United States, authorities said.

The raid was staged by an inter-agency task force including representatives of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Immigration and Naturalization Service, U.S. Customs and the county sheriff, who hope the arrests will lead them to gang kingpins.

The three men were charged with felony pandering and the seven women were charged with residing in a house of prostitution, a misdemeanor. It was unclear whether the women were being held against their will, but at least one woman told authorities she was too afraid to talk.

“In our minds, it’s a slavery operation,” Budds said.

The houses, in Rosemead and Monterey Park, advertised through word of mouth and business cards, according to several clients who were briefly detained at the house by police. They told authorities they were prepared to pay $100 for sex.