Thursday, July 12, 2012
Money talks
Local authorities ran a huge raid on several "spa" outfits that had been operating for 30 or 40 years. The "spas" were obviously cathouses, but had not caused any trouble.
Well, why? What was so urgent? Why did they need a paramilitary SWAT operation involving 200 city, county, federal, and tribal cops, to arrest the old Korean ladies who ran the "spas"? The whores and johns were not arrested.
Best guess comes from putting together a couple of facts.
From an early news report:
Complaints from Northern Quest Casino officials about prostitution activity prompted the Airway Heights Police Department to conduct undercover strings of suspected prostitutes who in turn agreed to work as confidential informants.
And now today:
A former prostitue who was allegedly involved in the crim ering says money floweed for the owners of the busted spas. She says she made up to $1,000 a day herself. Jane Doe, as we're calling her, worked at Joe Jeans, Oriental Spa and Starlight.
"[The owners] tell the tax people they pay us $50 a day, and they pay taxes off of that, but that's not what we're really making a day," she said.
We're emphatically not talking about "sexual slavery" when the owners are paying the whores up to $1000 a day. We're also not talking about the kind of prostitution that leads to street crime, because the "spas" have always been run in a quiet and organized way.
Hmmm. What's the big deal then? Ah, got it. The old Korean ladies raised the prevailing wage for whores. The tribal mafia that runs the Casino got pissed. And when the tribal mafia says jump, local authorities do an Avedon-quality leap. ¶ 4:28 AM
Well, why? What was so urgent? Why did they need a paramilitary SWAT operation involving 200 city, county, federal, and tribal cops, to arrest the old Korean ladies who ran the "spas"? The whores and johns were not arrested.
Best guess comes from putting together a couple of facts.
From an early news report:
Complaints from Northern Quest Casino officials about prostitution activity prompted the Airway Heights Police Department to conduct undercover strings of suspected prostitutes who in turn agreed to work as confidential informants.
And now today:
A former prostitue who was allegedly involved in the crim ering says money floweed for the owners of the busted spas. She says she made up to $1,000 a day herself. Jane Doe, as we're calling her, worked at Joe Jeans, Oriental Spa and Starlight.
"[The owners] tell the tax people they pay us $50 a day, and they pay taxes off of that, but that's not what we're really making a day," she said.
We're emphatically not talking about "sexual slavery" when the owners are paying the whores up to $1000 a day. We're also not talking about the kind of prostitution that leads to street crime, because the "spas" have always been run in a quiet and organized way.
Hmmm. What's the big deal then? Ah, got it. The old Korean ladies raised the prevailing wage for whores. The tribal mafia that runs the Casino got pissed. And when the tribal mafia says jump, local authorities do an Avedon-quality leap. ¶ 4:28 AM
