‘Such an evil thing’: Online network run by Chinese ‘cyber police’ agent promotes prostitution, sex trafficking in U.S.
A Telegram channel used by Chinese nationals to illegally immigrate to the U.S. also appears to be aiding and abetting prostitution and sex trafficking, a months-long Daily Caller News Foundation investigation discovered.
The “American Self-Guided Tour Channel” on Telegram is one of several that facilitates Chinese illegal immigration into the U.S., serving as a hub for documents detailing things like border wall gaps and scripts for obtaining asylum, the DCNF recently reported. The 8,000-member channel is controlled by a self-proclaimed Chinese “cyber police” agent, who regularly bans accounts critical of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The DCNF discovered the Telegram channel after analyzing the contents of a cell phone abandoned by a Chinese illegal immigrant near the border between California and Mexico.
A review of hundreds of Chinese-language posts in the Telegram channel uncovered multiple accounts advertising prostitutes working primarily in California. The majority of the posts translated by the DCNF describe the prostitutes being advertised as illegal immigrants from China.
Likewise, several prominent accounts on the Telegram channel claim to be affiliated with so-called “snakeheads” — which is a Chinese term for human smugglers, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The DCNF also found accounts using the Telegram channel to recruit Chinese illegal immigrants to work in massage parlors that also appear to advertise on various escort websites. The DCNF contacted and even visited the locations of several of the Los Angeles-area businesses mentioned in the Telegram channel’s posts, but questions remain as to the exact nature of these establishments.
“Nail salons and massage parlors have been used as fronts for money laundering and sex trafficking operations by Chinese nationals and groups linked to the CCP,” Ammon Blair, a former Border Patrol agent and Army veteran, told the DCNF.
“[The CCP uses] drugs and sex to undermine target populations while simultaneously reaping enormous illicit profits to fund other nefarious activities, said Blair, who’s now a senior fellow for the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
The U.S. has experienced an 1,100% spike in Chinese illegal immigration since fiscal year 2022, according to the federal government. Moreover, single adults comprise the vast majority of the over 55,000 Chinese illegal immigrants encountered by U.S. authorities so far in 2024, Customs and Border Protection data shows.
Intelligence experts and Republican lawmakers have repeatedly warned that Chinese illegal immigration poses a “national security threat” to the U.S.
“The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is corrupt and self-serving,” Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio told the DCNF. “The Party and its officials facilitate sex and labor trafficking across the globe to help advance the goals of the regime.”
“The scope of Beijing’s efforts is vast and the Biden Administration needs to do more to counter the threat,” Rubio said.
Telegram did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
‘All From Women Who’ve Illegally Immigrated’
One of the American Self-Guided Tour Channel’s most active accounts promoting prostitution goes by the name “@sungou999.” The account routinely expresses pro-CCP views and also serves as an administrator of a related 2,000-member Telegram group with the same name and cover image.
A review of @sungou999’s posts, which are mostly written in Chinese, found the account primarily advertises prostitutes and businesses selling sex near Monterey Park, a city north of Los Angeles that’s become a hotbed of Chinese illegal immigration.
In one instance, @sungou999 posted several images of Asian women on May 11, 2024. Below one of the photos, he wrote: “Los Angeles prostitutes.”
“How much does sex with this trash cost?” another account asked @sungou999.
“140,” @sungou999 replied.
In a related Telegram message, @sungou999 put up what appears to be an image of one of the prostitutes engaged in a sex act.
“Massage prices from Chinese women have now fallen to $100 and include sex,” @sungou999 wrote above the image.
[Image created by the DCNF with screenshot from American Self-Guided Tour Channel]
That same day, @sungou999 posted several other photos showing a naked Asian woman lying on a bed in a room with pink lighting.
“Now many illegal immigrant women are doing this, below, a group member spent $80 to experience love in Fatty Ding Plaza,” @sungou999 wrote above the photo, referencing the nickname for a Monterey Park strip mall. The DCNF found dozens of other posts and documents in the Telegram channel mentioning the strip mall, which seems to serve as a popular congregation point for Chinese illegal immigrants looking for jobs and other services.
Using a pseudonym, the DCNF messaged @sungou999 to ask about the identity of the woman in the picture.
“I’ll give you the contact information for $50,” he replied, “and if you’re not satisfied I’ll return the money.”
[Image created by the DCNF with screenshot from American Self-Guided Tour Channel]
In addition to promoting prostitutes, @sungou999 has also advertised several massage parlors purportedly engaged in prostitution.
On June 4, 2024, for instance, the account shared the address of a massage parlor in El Monte, California.
“Service from this massage parlor is all from women who’ve illegally immigrated,” @sungou999 wrote in the post before adding, “Blowjob 100, handjob 60, sex 140.”
The DCNF matched the address from @sungou999’s post with one found on the website of a massage parlor in El Monte, California. The DCNF anonymously contacted the massage parlor via text and asked if their services included any of the sexual acts described in @sungou999’s Telegram post.
“$50 for a one hour full body massage,” a representative for the business replied, before sharing its El Monte business address. “Come over here and talk.”
[Image created by the DCNF with screenshots from the American Self-Guided Tour Channel and Skip The Games]
‘Illicit Activities’
The DCNF also discovered accounts in the Telegram channel recruiting for massage parlors that also appear on websites for escort services. The DCNF matched contact information from over half a dozen California massage parlors with advertisements from the American Self-Guided Tour Channel and escort websites, like Skip The Games, Rub Maps and Scarlet Amour.
One such ad was posted in the Telegram channel on February 20, 2024.
“Recruiting part-time female masseuses,” the post reads. “One hour drive from San Jose.”
The phone number listed in the Telegram recruitment post was also found in multiple ads on escort websites, including Skip The Games, which describes itself as “the world’s most popular adult site to find escorts and providers near you.”
The DCNF visited the locations of several Los Angeles massage parlors mentioned in the Telegram channel, and, on more than one occasion, observed young Asian women by the businesses’ windows appearing to present themselves to potential clients outside.
Accounts within the Telegram channel, including @sungou999, have claimed that Chinese illegal immigrant women work as prostitutes at several of these massage parlors.
Some nail salons and massage parlors “operate as cash-based businesses to launder money from illicit activities, while also trafficking women to provide sexual services under coercion,” said Blair of the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
‘Snakehead’
Several accounts within the American Self-Guided Tour Channel, including @sungou999, have also identified themselves as being affiliated with “snakeheads” or human smugglers.
“I’m very happy to share this industry,” @sungou999 posted in the Telegram channel on March 28, 2024.
“Become a snakehead. There’s nothing shameful about this trade,” he continued, before adding “California Border Patrol all know my big group.”
A review of @sungou999’s posts also found claims one of his uncles made $900,000 as a snakehead smuggling 15 Chinese illegal immigrants into the U.S.
While it remains unclear what, if any, position @sungou999 holds with Chinese human smuggling organizations, the DCNF found that the account advertises paid “consulting” services on how to illegally immigrate to the U.S.
The account claims to earn $9,000 a month in consulting fees, which he has waived on at least one occasion in exchange for sex from a female Chinese illegal immigrant, according to his posts.
[Image created by the DCNF with screenshot from American Self-Guided Tour Channel]
Tennessee Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn told the DCNF that Chinese human smugglers and sex traffickers are “doing it because it is lucrative,” adding that human trafficking has grown into a “$150 billion-a-year global business.”
“You are looking at organizations who don’t have our values,” said Blackburn, “who are into such an evil thing as trafficking women and children.”
Chinese human traffickers “subject [Chinese] men, women and children to forced labor and sex trafficking in more than 80 other countries,” the State Department warned in 2023.
While the number of Chinese illegal immigrant sex trafficking victims is unknown, Blackburn said it’s “been a consistent increase over the last three years,” citing an “8,000% increase” in Chinese illegal immigrants in recent years, which she described as a “national security concern.”
And yet, the actual number of Chinese illegal immigrants may be much higher than figures reported by the federal government, North Carolina Republican Rep. Dan Bishop told the DCNF.
“Chinese national illegal migration into the country as a whole, the absolute numbers are larger, ” Bishop said.
In May 2024, Bishop chaired the House Homeland Security Committee’s oversight subcommittee hearing concerning the unprecedented surge in Chinese illegal immigrants the U.S. has experienced since President Joe Biden took office.
The hearing followed a January 2024 DCNF investigation revealing an email showing that the Biden administration dramatically simplified the vetting process for Chinese illegal immigrants by reducing the number of interview questions Border Patrol agents are required to ask from roughly 40 down to just five.
“It is a shocking and unexplained development,” Bishop said.
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