Prosecutions of massage parlor owners have proliferated in the last few years, although the number of parlors open has not seen much, if any, increase during this period of time. Most of the targeted parlors have been open for many years, and some for more than a decade. It is decidedly a growing trend with state and federal prosecutors around the US, and frequently includes civil forfeiture of property and money. Do these cops and prosecutors have nothing better to do with their time or are they receiving an extra push from religious groups, for example, the Christian Coalition? Or are such pursuits receiving serious funding by government agencies quick to label the foreign workers "trafficked women"? Think about it for a minute – a massage parlor has been open for 10 or 12 years, but suddenly this parlor is a problem to the overall community? I admit to knowing little about massage parlors, or body scrubs, as they are sometimes called, but what little I do know tells me that often the same customers go there for years and nothing has changed to warrant the sudden attack.
There was one in Cocoa (Florida) that was directly across the street from the Cocoa Police Department for 20 years before the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation (MBI) ventured over to Brevard County and raided, then permanently closed, the place. The MBI did what they did back in 2002, and only as a result of information received from the big informant in my own case, Ann, as she had worked there briefly. The City of Cocoa and Brevard County didn't care enough to bother for 20 entire years. I am referring to the Boardroom case, and the owner, Marjorie Ruzzo, pled guilty to a racketeering charge in state court back in 2003. If Ann the informant didn't exist the MBI would not have bothered. Today is different in that the MBI has been targeting these establishments in Orlando for the last two years; In fact, when they raid the places they bring along WFTV news reporters, so this is about the only time that I see the MBI in the news today.
It is a trend to target these parlors in that I'm seeing new cases pop-up all over the country, and not just in my own backyard. Most often the owners of the massage parlors that are targeted are Asian or Asian-American, although there are as many massage parlors open that are owned by non-Asians. In many cases I'm hearing agents talk about "trafficking in women" being a part of the investigation and a potential charge faced by the owner. Usually the women working in these places are in their 30s, 40s, and 50s – look at the booking photos the next time you see a raid in the news. It is beyond me to understand how women from Korea, Vietnam, or China, that are in these age groups could be referred to as "trafficked," unless of course it has to do with federal grants and police funding. Hell, if they wanted to leave they could, without doubt, but this is how they make a living, and it beats the crap out of working at a fast-food joint for minimum wage!
To illustrate my point here, the next few articles posted will concern specific prosecutions in different geographic areas. I'll begin with Orlando and the prosecution of Li Ping Ding, and then move on to cases in Ohio, Colorado, and elsewhere. Indulge me please – I have done my research on the topic.
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