The investigation began in August and federal law enforcement made six arrests last week, according to court documents. Five of the parlors mentioned are in Wilmington, while others were in Cary and Durham.
Three Wilmington parlor operators and others have been charged with conspiracy, bribery, and operating a prostitution enterprise in interstate commerce as part of one case. In another case that appears to involve the same set of DHS characters, a different Wilmington parlor owner faces similar charges.
The six women thought the undercover agent was a potential business partner and their corrupt-cop protector. He showed them his real-life badge and gun to convince them he was really a law enforcement officer. The undercover agent accepted payments from the targets for more than six months, until April and May of An early meeting with the lone defendant Xiang due Jin happened at a Starbucks in Cary, according to court documents. On Apr. A DHS special agent, Glenn Covington, who composed affidavits for complaints in both cases, stated his involvement in over child exploitation and sex trafficking cases.
Covington and the undercover agent are implied to be different people. At the massage parlors in Wilmington and elsewhere, court filings make no mention of minors being involved in these cases. One defendant in the other case, Ok Hwa Lee, told an undercover agent at a meeting β also hosted at a Cary Starbucks β she placed advertisements in Korean and Chinese newspapers in the U.
Lee is pegged as the organizer of a criminal group. Five women were eventually arrested in that case. Lee operated two Wilmington parlors, and her friend Ming Ji Cao, who also came to know the undercover agent, operated two as well. Deputies interviewed 14 customers, and handed out 13 grand jury subpoenas among those.
