A Towson woman is facing criminal charges accused of operating a brothel from a local massage parlor. Police have charged ringleader Di Zhang, 42, and Yi Dong with prostitution and human trafficking. Federal officials plan to seize several homes the suspected ringleader bought with money she made from the scheme.
Investigators had been monitoring the location for several days. After undercover agents were promised sex for money after responding to online ads, they launched a big raid involving officers from Baltimore County and the Homeland Security Department. Zhang used two properties she owned in the block of East Joppa Road in Baltimore for prostitution and human trafficking purposes, according to documents released by the U.
Attorney's Office. The documents detailed how agents executed search and seizure warrants several times between and on the two East Joppa Road buildings -- called Jade Heart Health Center -- and found evidence of prostitution.
Officials said interviews with men and women going into and out of the location confirmed the illegal practice. Some women told authorities they learned about the facility through ads Zhang and her partner, Dong, put out in a Chinese-language newspaper in New York between The documents said other ads were placed through this past January on Backpage.
One confidential informant told authorities that Zhang had her come from New York to work at the East Joppa Road location and explained that, along with massages, sex acts were performed. Zhang made hundreds of thousands of dollars from the scheme and used that money to purchase the other properties between and , according to the documents.
