Two women were arrested on suspicion of maintaining a house of prostitution in La Quinta, where sheriff’s officials say about $14,000 in cash was also seized when a search warrant was served at an office suite in the 79000 block of Highway 111.
Mei Ya Liu, 50 of San Gabriel, and Guowen Wu, 43 of Alhambra, were arrested at about 10:30 a.m. Friday on suspicion of solicitation of prostitution and maintaining a house for prostitution or lewdness.
The search warrant was served by La Quinta Special Enforcement Team with the assistance of the Riverside County Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force, and stemmed from a prior incident where Riverside County sheriff’s officials said a sex act had previously been negotiated in exchange for money.
The office suite is in the shopping center anchored by Sprouts and Best Buy.
Liu and Wu were booked at John Benoit Detention Center in Indio. Liu was released Friday on $2,500 bail, while Wu was cited and released. Both are scheduled to be in court July 6 in Indio.
No victims of sex trafficking were identified in the investigation, officials said.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children estimates 1 in 6 endangered runaways reported are likely victims of sex trafficking.
Report Human Trafficking activity or tips to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline at (888) 373-7888.
Anyone with information is asked to call Deputy Maggie Lopez at the Thermal sheriff’s station, (760) 863-8990, or Crime Stoppers at (760) 341-STOP (7867).
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Source : yahoo
