A man and woman have been jailed after running a brothel in Birmingham that exploited trafficked and vulnerable Chinese women working as prostitutes.
Brothel madam Xiao Qin Zhong, 48, and her male accomplice Deli Sun, 49, made thousands of pounds from the women, with many victims having sex with up to ten clients every day.
The pair were caught when police and Women’s Aid support workers raided a brothel in upmarket Berkley Street on July 9 last year.
Sun answered the door and officers found Zhong and another woman living and working in the brothel.
In each room there was a red light, a bed and other evidence of prostitution including bagfuls of condoms and tubes of sex lubrication.
Five phones were seized which contained conversations arranging sexual exchanges with clients, as well as prices and directions to the brothel.
Wording from an advert used to lure girls from China to work in the UK as a sex worker was found on the WeChat messaging app.
The pair were jailed at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday 2 February after they admitted running a brothel.
Zhong, who managed the brothel and had sex with clients when other women were unavailable, was jailed for ten months.
Sun, who even sent cash back to his wife in China, was sentenced to seven months in prison.
Police launched an investigation after receiving a tip-off about the brothel, with links to other locations in the country as well as trafficking, and sexual exploitation offences.
The court heard Zhong and Sun boasted about making thousands of pounds from their vice den.
In one message on WeChat, Sun said he sent £16,000 to his own wife back in China.
Detective Constable Tammy Newman-Smith, from West Midlands Police, said: "These two were part of a conspiracy directing and controlling the activities of sex workers who have been lured over from China and trafficked throughout the UK.
“They had absolutely no regard for the wellbeing of the women they controlled, with many of the women being visited by up to ten clients a day.
“They treated them simply as objects for their own personal financial gain.”
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