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Three women who didn’t speak a word of English stood on the doorstep of an illegal Merivale Road massage parlour Monday morning as police began combing through one of three raided homes that would lead to 76 charges against one man.
The women, all Asian and whose status in Canada is currently being investigated, would later be taken to the police station to be interviewed with an interpreter. No charges would be laid against them.
The focus of the warrants that saw an officer calmly knock on the Merivale door was one of three carried out in Ottawa Monday after a four-month probe into an illegal erotic massage parlour human trafficking ring.
Just moments earlier, tactical officers raided the Rockcliffe Park home of the alleged ringleader and his wife on Charles Street just minutes earlier and another woman, also illegally in the country, was found in a high-end condo on York Street.
Police seized $14,000 in cash from the raids and found evidence that transactions were allegedly carried out on site at the Merivale home.
Zhao Liu, 33, is charged in connection with 17 alleged victims of human trafficking. The 76 charges include recruiting, procuring, and advertising the sexual services of others.
He was previously charged with human trafficking offences in 2013. In 2014, he was charged with breaching his conditions. Police have said he is known to them.
Liu’s wife was released without charges.
The announcement of the arrests come as the pilot human trafficking unit’s own future is uncertain.
The unit’s priority is investigating conditions where people are working in the sex trade against their will, says Sgt. Jeff Leblanc. In addition to Leblanc, four detectives – two men and two women – along with a crime analyst round out the unit.
The manner in which police forces approach sexual assault or domestic violence cases is provincially legislated. But there isn’t one set of guiding principles for human trafficking cases, which leaves investigators trying to be all things to all victims, Leblanc says. Each case requires nearly all the investigators to work on all aspects of the case – from the investigation to supervising victims at court to guard against threats of intimidation.
The sheer size of investigations are taxing the limited resources of the unit.
“With only four investigators, it’s tough sometimes,” Leblanc says.
The service began a two-year pilot unit in October 2013 with officers loaned from other sections. It’s set to finish at the end of October.
The unit will now have to present a business case for full-time status. At the very least, officers hope the unit will be made permanent. Best case, additional investigators would be added to the small staff. For either of those to happen, the police force needs to grow.
Making the unit full-time means backfilling the jobs officers will be leaving. Chief Charles Bordeleau has already committed to asking the police board to hire 75 new officers over the next three years.
Bordeleau identified combatting violence against women as one of his key initiatives for the police force. The unit, as a branch of that arm, is investigating threats, violence and extortion against women. All of the victims in human trafficking cases in Ottawa, to date, have been female.
“The priority (to extend the unit) should be pretty high,” Leblanc says.
The massage parlour project began in April when the unit was assisting border services and bylaw officers with a three-day sweep of Asian massage parlours in the city. It was then that police identified multiple locations where women were working, some in the country illegally, that were linked to one man.
All of the locations were rental properties. Police were able to see that the same person was posting similar ads on Backpage.com for different locations.
Police raided one of the homes. The women who had been working there were removed. Yet days later, police again started receiving complaints from neighbours noticing the excessive traffic to and from the home. A new crop of workers had showed up. Leblanc called it a “revolving door” of women, which raised police suspicion about where these women were coming from and how easily they could be replaced.
The residential spots were advertised as massage parlours but police believe they offered sexual services. At the Merivale house, clothes were hung in a tree to dry, as the same Ford Escape drove by the house for a third time.
“There’s people that know what goes on here that are probably looking to stop by,” Leblanc says.
“Our role in this is to see if these females are victims or if they are willingly working for financial gain.”
Police believe some recruiting is going on in Ottawa and in the province broadly and since some of the women at these massage parlours have been in Canada for mere links. Police believe there may be international links, as well.
“This is only the beginning of the next step. There’s still a lot of work to be done,” Leblanc says.
Liu appeared in court for a bail hearing Tuesday.
syogaretnam@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/shaaminiwhy
查看原文...
The women, all Asian and whose status in Canada is currently being investigated, would later be taken to the police station to be interviewed with an interpreter. No charges would be laid against them.
The focus of the warrants that saw an officer calmly knock on the Merivale door was one of three carried out in Ottawa Monday after a four-month probe into an illegal erotic massage parlour human trafficking ring.
Just moments earlier, tactical officers raided the Rockcliffe Park home of the alleged ringleader and his wife on Charles Street just minutes earlier and another woman, also illegally in the country, was found in a high-end condo on York Street.
Police seized $14,000 in cash from the raids and found evidence that transactions were allegedly carried out on site at the Merivale home.
Zhao Liu, 33, is charged in connection with 17 alleged victims of human trafficking. The 76 charges include recruiting, procuring, and advertising the sexual services of others.
He was previously charged with human trafficking offences in 2013. In 2014, he was charged with breaching his conditions. Police have said he is known to them.
Liu’s wife was released without charges.
The announcement of the arrests come as the pilot human trafficking unit’s own future is uncertain.
The unit’s priority is investigating conditions where people are working in the sex trade against their will, says Sgt. Jeff Leblanc. In addition to Leblanc, four detectives – two men and two women – along with a crime analyst round out the unit.
The manner in which police forces approach sexual assault or domestic violence cases is provincially legislated. But there isn’t one set of guiding principles for human trafficking cases, which leaves investigators trying to be all things to all victims, Leblanc says. Each case requires nearly all the investigators to work on all aspects of the case – from the investigation to supervising victims at court to guard against threats of intimidation.
The sheer size of investigations are taxing the limited resources of the unit.
“With only four investigators, it’s tough sometimes,” Leblanc says.
The service began a two-year pilot unit in October 2013 with officers loaned from other sections. It’s set to finish at the end of October.
The unit will now have to present a business case for full-time status. At the very least, officers hope the unit will be made permanent. Best case, additional investigators would be added to the small staff. For either of those to happen, the police force needs to grow.
Making the unit full-time means backfilling the jobs officers will be leaving. Chief Charles Bordeleau has already committed to asking the police board to hire 75 new officers over the next three years.
Bordeleau identified combatting violence against women as one of his key initiatives for the police force. The unit, as a branch of that arm, is investigating threats, violence and extortion against women. All of the victims in human trafficking cases in Ottawa, to date, have been female.
“The priority (to extend the unit) should be pretty high,” Leblanc says.
The massage parlour project began in April when the unit was assisting border services and bylaw officers with a three-day sweep of Asian massage parlours in the city. It was then that police identified multiple locations where women were working, some in the country illegally, that were linked to one man.
All of the locations were rental properties. Police were able to see that the same person was posting similar ads on Backpage.com for different locations.
Police raided one of the homes. The women who had been working there were removed. Yet days later, police again started receiving complaints from neighbours noticing the excessive traffic to and from the home. A new crop of workers had showed up. Leblanc called it a “revolving door” of women, which raised police suspicion about where these women were coming from and how easily they could be replaced.
The residential spots were advertised as massage parlours but police believe they offered sexual services. At the Merivale house, clothes were hung in a tree to dry, as the same Ford Escape drove by the house for a third time.
“There’s people that know what goes on here that are probably looking to stop by,” Leblanc says.
“Our role in this is to see if these females are victims or if they are willingly working for financial gain.”
Police believe some recruiting is going on in Ottawa and in the province broadly and since some of the women at these massage parlours have been in Canada for mere links. Police believe there may be international links, as well.
“This is only the beginning of the next step. There’s still a lot of work to be done,” Leblanc says.
Liu appeared in court for a bail hearing Tuesday.
syogaretnam@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/shaaminiwhy
查看原文...
