After several complaints from local residents and the police Department for investigation of cases of human trafficking conducted an inspection at the massage centre Hau Xia Healthy Center, located on Memorial highway veterans. During the RAID, were arrested three women on suspicion of organizing sex and involvement in prostitution.
flickr.com/Ianqui Doodle/CC
Presumably, Hau Xia Healthy Center is only one of a large network of massage parlors where visitors from China and Korea were forced to provide sexual services. «The ethnic center of this underground network is in flushing (Queens),» said Lori Cohen, Director of Sanctuary Initiative to combat human trafficking.
We often hear about human trafficking happening in our communities, but very little is actually known about how this industry operates or why it continues to proliferate. Here in Flushing, we are fighting to keep our… https://t.co/MPQRtkyxDH
— Peter Koo (@CMPeterKoo) March 18, 2019
The Queens Council member Peter Koo has published a statement which said: «We are seeing that it happens from time to time throughout the country. Law enforcement agencies are conducting raids at massage parlors, and later it becomes clear that they can be traced back to flushing. We work hard to ensure that victims of trafficking have access to rights and to our community knew what to look for. To the problem of sex trafficking must be treated with great delicacy, so the victim could be sure that they’re safe. We want them to know that they have the full support of law enforcement and government.»
Police are still investigating and promises that the RAID is not the last, member of the Board of Queens Ku together with the officers of NYPD and members of the community will hold a seminar on combating trafficking in flushing library March 29 at 15:00, to help explain the services available to victims, and to tell the community about what to pay attention to.
