Rui Wang
ANDERSON – On March 24, 2020, the Anderson Police Department announced that, along with its local and state law enforcement partners, it concluded a year-long investigation into a sex trafficking operation involving eight massage parlors in Shasta County. Arrested were Rui Wang, 51, and Junhua Wu, 47, both of Chico and believed to be the head of the criminal enterprise.
The arrests of Wang and Wu and the rescue of at least six human trafficking victims ranging in age from early 20’s to 60’s, is the result of a tip that was received in early 2019 by a concerned Anderson citizen who reported unusual behavior with the Relax Chinese Massage that had recently opened within the City of Anderson.
This tip resulted in the discovery of a human trafficking ring that operated in Shasta, Tehama and Butte Counties. The investigation revealed that multiple women were being forced to live in the massage parlors and perform sex acts for money from morning until night.
“Kudos to the citizen who originally reported suspicious activity and to the law enforcement departments who followed through with this investigation including the Franchise Tax Board,” said California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA) President Alan Barcelona. “FTB investigators are a great asset to local law enforcement officers when investigating businesses.”
Junhua Wu
Wang and Wu are charged with four counts of pimping, one count of pandering, and 53 counts of money laundering. They currently have a bail amount set at $1,000,000.00.
The Anderson Police Department thanked the Shasta County District Attorney Office for the resources they provided for this investigation and the State Franchise Tax Board for conducting a parallel investigation revealing significant evidence of the suspects ‘ money laundering activities.
The law enforcement teams served at least eight search warrants on March 23rd and worked from 6:00 a.m. to midnight searching massage parlors in Redding, Anderson, Red Bluff, Chico and Oroville as well as the suspects’ residence.
According to the investigation, Wang and Wu managed and profited from eight illicit massage parlors forcing women to live inside of the massage parlors where their sole purpose was to provide sexual services to customers.
The officers encountered the two suspects, six victims, and three would be-customers throughout the operation.
