413047-Underground-Commercial-Sex-Economy

the room is, so it a three bedroom house you might have an additional nine, ten, twelve
rooms. (San Diego Law Enforcement Official)
Brothels are managed in a very organized and structured manner. Women and girls know very little about
how the operation is run and drivers and money runners only know what their jobs entail. As one law
enforcement officer noted, “With the international stuff there is so many limbs to the tree, versus the
domestic where mainly you are dealing with one pimp usually, and a bottom and your girls.” Money is
usually sent through wire transfers [often times through Western Union] back to Mexico and other
Central and South American countries. Although these criminal enterprises are organized, stakeholders
commented that they do not meet the level of criminal organization in Asian massage parlors:
Well, the Hispanic side it still about the money. There is some organization there, but it’s
not anything like the Asian organization. That is truly organized crime. That ranges clear
back to China. It’s not by chance that they pay somebody just to come over here, it starts
there. They pay whoever they pay and that person is linked up with over here, and
whoever they get in contact with, that whole chain is linked up together. (San Diego Law
Enforcement Official)
Seattle, Washington
Thirteen individuals were interviewed about the local underground commercial sex economy in Seattle,
Washington. Representatives from the following agencies were interviewed: Seattle Police Department,
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), King County Sheriff’s
Department, U.S Postal Inspector Service (USPIS), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the King County
District Attorney’s office.
The underground commercial sex economy in Seattle is diverse and includes street and online
prostitution, massage parlors, brothels, and escort services (see table 4.7). The most prevalent UCSE
venues are massage parlors and residential brothels, as opposed to street and online prostitution.
Individuals involved in street and online prostitution are typically drug-addicted or pimp-controlled.
However, law enforcement has seen an increase in the number of women who claim they are trading sex
independently and voluntarily. Gang involvement in the Seattle area has increased over time and hybrid
gangs are beginning to form, similar to San Diego. The proliferation of Asian massage parlors and Asian
“home brothels” is unique to Seattle and involves individuals from China, Vietnam, and Korea. Home
brothels tend to be highly organized and generate a great deal of money in the UCSE, much of which goes
back to the operators’ home country.
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