Quincy man faces life in prison for alleged role in area prostitution/sex trafficking ring

Three Quincy residents and two New Yorkers were arrested today on charges that for at least six years, they imported women - many illegal immigrants - into the Boston area to serve as prostitutes.

The women, recruited through Asian newspapers across the country, were ferried to the South Station bus depot for transport to apartments in Boston and surrounding towns to service customers, the US Attorney's office charges.

Hong "Ms. Chen" Wei, 37, of Flushing NY and Jing "Mike" Liang Chen, 30, of Quincy, were charged with "sex trafficking and harboring illegal aliens and using force, fraud and coercion to cause the women to engage in a commercial sex act which the defendants benefitted from financially." They face life in prison if convicted; the other three face up to five years in prison.

Recent years have seen numerous arrests of Asian women on prostitution charges in the Boston area. The arrests typically came after police found Craigslist ads promoting Asian "massages." Even with today's arrests, these massages are still being offered on Craigslist.