Police report describes how suspected San Jose home brothels operated

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) — Women were flown from New York City to San Jose with promises of legitimate jobs before they were victimized in brothels operated in residential neighborhoods, according to a police report filed in court.

The San Jose Police Department Human Trafficking Task Force’s report, obtained by KRON4 on Monday, describes how neighbors in San Jose were confronted by men seeking prostitutes.

Residents who live near 250 Palacio Royale Circle sent multiple tips to SJPD about suspicious activities. One tip to SJPD stated, “My mother’s home … continues to have solicitors asking for women and have shown my mother pics of Asian women whom they are looking for. Several men have tried to force themselves into my mother’s home. It is dangerous.”

Another tip stated, “People knocking at our home … saying they are there for a massage. Many unidentified men trying to force themselves into our (home) and then running away.”

Neighbors told police that suspicious activities had been happening for nearly a year. Detectives followed up on the tips and launched an investigation.

Suspected brothels were found inside houses on Palacio Royale Circle, Bonita Avenue, and Gifford Avenue, according to SJPD.

Within the past two weeks, officers arrested three San Jose men on suspicion of human trafficking : Naisong Tong, 34, Guihua Tao, 60, and Zhiqiang Liu, 53.

Four women were rescued, police said, and they were interviewed by detectives.

One Colombian woman, identified as “Victim 1,” said she was living in New York and looking for a job when her friend told her that a California “spa” was hiring masseuses. Victim 1 was given a plane ticket, flown to California, and driven to a house at 250 Palacio Royale Circle in San Jose. After she arrived, the victim was informed that she would perform sex acts in exchange for money. The victim told police that she was kept on a very restricted diet and was not allowed to leave the house.

Victim 1 said “new girls” would arrive at the house every 10 days, and women were required to work from 9 a.m. until midnight.

Another Colombian woman, identified as “Victim 2,” was looking for a job as a dancer when she was flown from New York, transported to Palacio Royale Circle, and instructed to perform sex acts for customers, the police report states.

In July, an undercover police detective found a phone number for the brothels and set up a “commercial sex date,” the report states. “Throughout the text conversation, I was provided with photographs which included the females to choose from. I was also provided prices and time allotments for the sexual services provided,” the undercover detective wrote.

When investigators conducted surveillance of the Palacio Royale Circle house on July 12, they watched various men arriving a different times, staying inside for about 30 minutes, and leave.

Tong and Tao were arrested on August 28 and charged with human trafficking. Liu was arrested on September 3. The trio is scheduled to return to Santa Clara County Superior Court on December 6 to enter a plea.

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