A brothel keeper who arranged for twelve women to be trafficked around the UK as sex workers has been jailed after he was snared by text messages advertising his services.
Using a text callout service to traffic women across the country from Birmingham, 48-year-old Jie Ke Wang was sentenced as part of a major operation targeting organised crime in the West Midlands, jailed for four years and five months last Wednesday (24 May).
Wang’s clients would ask for women to be sent to their address to carry out sex work, whilst others were “rotated” around the UK.
First jailed for 15 months in August 2022 for running a brothel from his home in Birmingham City Centre, probing of devices following his arrest led police towards Wang’s involvement in sex trafficking victims.
Wang maintains that he took home £500 per week from his “managerial” position, with messages – namely sent via WhatsApp – revealing that he would haggle with his customers on prices.
One client asked Wang whether he had “anyone available tonight”, to which he replied with a photograph of a woman, orchestrating a two-hour stay for her at a hotel in Birmingham for a price of £300. On another occasion, he arranged for one woman to be sent to Wrexham, Wales for an overnight “outcall” – costing £600 for eight hours.
Elsewhere, police found that he was operating in Telford, Glasgow, London and more, storing contacts in his phone not as names but titled as the areas in which they were located, including Coventry and Nottingham, labelled “Cov” and “Not” respectively.
Following Wang’s sentencing, West Midlands Police have confirmed that a number of the women victimised by his operations have been receiving help and support from other organisations.
Det Insp Al Teague, from West Midlands Police Force’s Priorities Team, said: “Wang’s business was the sexual exploitation of women and a form of modern slavery.
“He would negotiate the terms of the encounters the girls would have without consulting them.
“These are not victimless crimes – women were being exploited for financial gain, and we will always look to bring those involved in crimes like this to justice.”
