Cops: Brothel's Effort to Hide Condoms Fails Miserably

Hundreds clogged sewer pipe by massage parlor in Austin, say police
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 12, 2017 9:09 AM CDT
Cops Get a Weird Clue, Bust Alleged Prostitution Ring
Flushing them wasn't a good idea.   (Getty Images/pederk)

Neighbors of Jade Massage Therapy in Austin, Texas, had their suspicions about the place, but it was a property manager's unusual find that helped bring about prostitution charges—a broken pipe linking the business to the sewer had been clogged by hundreds of used condoms, reports MySanAntonio. "It's not the normal … lead you would get on a place committing criminal activity, but it happened," an officer tells the Austin American-Statesman. "I was like, 'You've got to be kidding me.'" It wasn't the only find to raise suspicion. Two days before authorities learned of the pipe on Feb. 7, parlor owner Juan Wang had been stopped at an airport with $30,000 in cash, according to an arrest affidavit.

A "visibly nervous" Wang told authorities she had saved the money for a procedure in China, though she said she made only $20,000 a year. She then provided a phone number that was linked to a Backpage.com account advertising sexual services at Jade Massage, the affidavit says. Men later admitted paying for sexual services there, per KXAN, and during a search on March 22, Wang and another woman were each found in a room with a naked man, police say. Ledgers revealed that clients left tips of 200% or so on a $60 massage. Wang and her husband, Joseph Emery—who allegedly told police they didn't know the names of their employees—face charges of engaging in organized criminal activity and money laundering. (More Texas stories.)

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