Massage parlor owner Shaoping Wen and her associate Xu Wang have been federally charged for allegedly running a racketeering enterprise involving illicit commercial sex, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, Leigha Simonton.
Wen, aged 64, and Wang, aged 41, were charged via criminal complaint with conspiracy to use interstate travel in aid of racketeering enterprises. They were apprehended in New Mexico on March 21 and made their initial court appearances in Las Cruces on Wednesday. They are currently awaiting extradition to Lubbock to face charges in a Northern District of Texas federal court.
The complaint alleges that Wen owned and operated at least seven massage parlors where Asian women engaged in commercial sex. Wang, who claimed to be Wen's son, purportedly managed the parlors in her absence.
Undercover officers visited Wen's parlors in Texas and New Mexico between June 2023 and February 2024, purchasing $60 massages. They reported being solicited for sex by lingerie-clad women for an additional fee ranging from $140 to $200. Some of the women reportedly used translation apps to negotiate sexual services.
Upon arrest for prostitution, the women identified themselves as Chinese citizens and listed their occupation as "laborer." Wen or Wang allegedly appeared to pay the arrested women's cash bond on multiple occasions.
Law enforcement observed Wen's vehicle transporting Asian females directly from the airport to her massage parlors, where neighbors claimed they never left the premises. Investigations revealed beds on the floors of the parlors, suggesting the women lived there.
Incidents of concern were reported by witnesses, including a passerby who heard a woman screaming and found three provocatively dressed women inside the parlor.
The massage parlors were found advertised on websites commonly used for commercial sex, featuring partially naked women and promoting various services like the "girlfriend experience" and "fantasy outfits on request."
It's important to note that a criminal complaint represents allegations, not evidence, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. If convicted, Wen and Wang could face up to five years in federal prison.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office – Lubbock Resident Agency, Homeland Security Investigation’s Dallas Field Office, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and the Lubbock Police Department conducted the investigation with the assistance of the FBI’s Albuquerque Field Office, HSI’s Albuquerque Field Office, the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office, Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Wolfforth Police Department, the Eddy County Sheriff’s Office, the Carlsbad Police Department, the Roswell Police Department, the Clovis Police Department, the Roswell Fire Department, the Carlsbad Fire Department, the Lubbock County District Attorney’s Office, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico.
