Exclusive: Massive 19-state operation shatters Chinese sex-trafficking networks

Chinese organized crime is fueling a $5 billion-per-year sex-trafficking empire in the United States, operating numerous illicit massage parlors where 75,000 victims are enslaved and traumatized.

This modern slavery crisis was the target of a nationwide operation on Thursday involving 19 states and more than 150 law enforcement agencies, Blaze News has learned.

'We've not been giving our law enforcement officers the tools that they need to battle trafficking, and that's why trafficking continues to increase.'

Dan Nash, the founder of the Human Trafficking Training Center and a retired Missouri state trooper, coordinated the action, dubbed Operation Coast to Coast.

Thursday's sweep marked the third time Nash and HTTC launched the effort, which aimed to identify sex-trafficking victims, arrest traffickers, and share intelligence.

The joint mission raided illegal massage parlors and hotels, as well as targeted sex buyers. An Operation Coast to Coast press release obtained exclusively by Blaze News noted that Chinese criminal organizations run the billion-dollar-per-year illicit industry.

RELATED: Exclusive: Safe House Project ramps up fight against human trafficking, launches first-of-its-kind app

Photo given to Blaze News

Nash told Blaze News, "In California and New York, they have more illicit massage business than they do Starbucks and McDonald's combined."

He has used his 27 years in law enforcement to train thousands of officers across the country on how to identify and handle these trafficking situations.

"Most people think that the police officers are trained, but they're not. They don't get this kind of training," Nash stated, adding that his training program was created out of necessity.

Nash explained that despite working in human trafficking for 17 years, he was never instructed on how to interact with victims or how to investigate trafficking cases.

"We've not been giving our law enforcement officers the tools that they need to battle trafficking, and that's why trafficking continues to increase," he told Blaze News.

Only agencies that have participated in HTTC's training program can participate in the nationwide operation, in large part because many agencies in the U.S. arrest the victims for prostitution, Nash explained.

"Part of our training is explaining to law enforcement that these actually are victims, showing them why they are victims, showing them about the forced criminality component that is taking place and how to actually get to the trafficker when they find these victims," Nash continued. "We know the academic research is very, very clear, both in Europe [and] in the United States, that some 90[%] to 93% of all persons involved in commercial sex are actually being trafficked or under third-party control."

Regarding the Chinese organized crime syndicates, Nash explained that they are "the fastest growing in all of America," noting a 32% increase over the past three years. These groups operate 19,000 of the illicit massage businesses currently operating in the country, he added.

"Each [illicit massage business] will have two to four trafficking victims. So, you can do the math. That's a lot of trafficking victims," Nash stated.

Nash told Blaze News that the goal of Thursday's operation was to shut down 50 to 100 illicit massage businesses and to offer assistance to those victims.

Nash shed light on the identities of the victims trapped in these illegal sex-trafficking rings, stating that most are females recruited in China, many of whom have entered the U.S. by claiming asylum. With President Donald Trump's southern border and asylum loophole crackdown, more victims are being trafficked across the northern border, Nash said.

While the crackdown involved numerous law enforcement agencies, it was run from the Des Moines-based Iowa Fusion Center, a division of the Iowa Department of Public Safety, and involved several anti-trafficking groups.

'The reality is that there are hundreds of thousands of people trafficked in the US every year, and 99% are never identified.'

The Safe House Project was one of those support organizations offering thousands of resources to help victims escape trafficking by partnering with law enforcement to identify individuals in need of assistance.

Kristi Wells, the nonprofit's co-founder and CEO, told Blaze News that without support services, 80% of these vulnerable individuals will experience revictimization.

Wells stated that Operation Coast to Coast has opened an "opportunity to send this clear message to traffickers that this crime isn't going to be tolerated in our community."

Wells explained that victims have a variety of needs, stating that some may have been forced into drug addiction, may not speak English, or may lack immigration documents.

"All of them have experienced horrific trauma that takes therapy and healing to recover and to rebuild life anew," she told Blaze News. "Our team does a beautiful job of building trust with that survivor and communicating with them and finding translators and working to give them choice, which is the thing that has been robbed from them."

RELATED: Trump's FBI rescues 115 children, nabbing 205 alleged sex predators in nationwide sting

Photo from Operation Coast to Coast 2024

Delta Air Lines also assisted the operation by giving victims access to transportation across the country to enter shelters or reunite with family.

Last year, Operation Coast to Coast kicked off in 14 states, identifying 97 victims, arresting 39 suspected traffickers, and seizing over $292,000.

Nash told Blaze News that the most important message of the operation is that "not any one person or group can stop this human trafficking."

He emphasized that the nation needs anti-trafficking organizations, law enforcement, and the public to work together to help end the rampant crisis.

Wells echoed Nash's sentiments, highlighting the importance of the public's assistance in stopping trafficking.

"When something feels off, it can be difficult for people to know what to do, and it kind of leaves them feeling helpless. The reality is that there are hundreds of thousands of people trafficked in the U.S. every year, and 99% are never identified," she told Blaze News. "When we can equip and mobilize communities to respond to human trafficking, then we have the ability to see an issue that historically has gone unseen."

Editor’s note: This story and its headline have been updated after publication to reflect new information that the operation involved 19 states, not 18 as originally reported, and to clarify Delta Air Lines’ assistance.

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