Two charged for operating illicit massage parlors in NM

Two people are federally charged with running several illicit massage parlors in New Mexico and Texas.

Shaoping Wen, 64, and Xu Wang, 41, are each charged with conspiracy to use interstate travel in aid of racketeering enterprises. The pair was arrested March 21 in New Mexico.

If convicted, they each could face five years in prison.

Authorities said women at Wen’s parlors agreed to have sex with undercover officers for a fee and, when those women were arrested on prostitution charges, Wen or Wang would pay to bail them out.

At times, according to court records, Wen was seen transporting Asian women from the airport to parlors, and the women “never left the building.”

In June 2023, a tip about human trafficking led authorities to investigate two massage parlors near Lubbock, Texas, belonging to Wen and associated with Wang, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court. Undercover Lubbock police officers arrested two women after they offered to have sex with them at the parlors, and Wen bailed them out.

Authorities said in September 2023, they put a tracking device on Wen’s vehicle which led them to five illicit parlors in Carlsbad, Roswell and Clovis. Undercover agents with Homeland Security Investigations were offered sex for money by women at four of the parlors in separate incidents in February.

Wen was seen driving Asian women from the Roswell airport to the parlors, according to the complaint, and the parlors were also where the women lived, with beds on the floor.

Authorities found the parlors listed on websites used for illegal prostitution, including Rubmaps.com and Skipthegames.com. The ads said things like “New New & Sweet girls from Asia” and “we are all very sexy, charming, plump and petite.”

Authorities said they were able to tie Wen to the properties through rental agreements and utility bills, among other means. In March, Wen and Wang, who identified himself as Wen’s son, were both seen moving things out of a Lubbock parlor into their vehicles.

Wang allegedly helped Wen by helping bail the women out, delivering supplies to the parlors and, at times, operating “the illicit parlors on Wen’s behalf,” according to the complaint.

Authorities said Wen used “the most common method of laundering money” at a casino in Commerce, California, according to the compliant, and purchased more than $1.5 million in chips at the casino since 2018.

“The criminal plays a few games and then cashes out the chips with the casino. The criminal then receives ‘clean money’ back from the casino,” according to the complaint. “Throughout this investigation, Affiant has been unable to locate any known legitimate businesses owned or operated by Wen.”