Police discover brothel at San Leandro home
San Leandro Police Department
SAN LEANDRO, Calif. (KTVU) - San Leandro Police Department says they found a brothel at 338 Aloha Drive. On Thursday police served a search warrant at the location after neighbors had complained of suspicious activities and believed that a brothel was inside.
Earlier in the week, detectives posed as “Johns”. They allegedly communicated with a woman by text message. She later agreed to perform sex acts with the undercover detective for $160 and gave him the Aloha Dr. address.
Police observed Johns coming in and out of the house and served the warrant Thursday afternoon.
Police say when they knocked, three Chinese women fled through the back of the house. , but were arrested for suspicion of resisting arrest.
Police found an outdoor video surveillance system. Inside the house they found a man and a woman. The man said he was there to get a massage.
San Leandro P.D. is not identifying the parties involved and is continuing their investigation to see if human trafficking is at play. In an interview with police, one woman said she had just arrived from China less than a week ago and was in San Leandro for illegal prostitution.
“These investigations are very challenging, especially when trying to seek criminal charges,” stated Lt. Robert McManus. “We have difficulty convincing “Johns” to cooperate with us, which negatively impacts the investigation. More importantly, we strongly consider the human trafficking aspect involved in these operations and know that some women are forced into performing the illegal sex acts. In those cases, our goal is to provide the true victims [women] with social services that will assist them in escaping from this illegal industry,” he said.
Police don’t believe anyone actually lived in the 2-story house on the corner of Ian Ct., but they did say each room had a mattress on the floor and a small table with condoms and lubricant on it. Other items included; a suitcase filled with mostly women’s lingerie and a window covered by a sheet.
Authorities said the set up was standard for prostitution and seized $1,500 in cash, which was believed to be proceeds from the operation.