Operation “China Reset”: 5 people arrested for aiding and abetting prostitution

For reasons of public interest and protection of the legal right of health, we inform you that on November 19, in Grosseto, Prato and Milano, the Carabinieri of the Anti-Adulteration and Health Unit of Livorno and of the Judicial Police Section of the Public Prosecutor's Office of Grosseto, with the support of the military of the territorial force and with the assistance of the IV° Carabinieri Helicopter Unit of Pisa, at the conclusion of a detailed and detailed investigation directed by the Judicial Authority of the capital, have carried out 5 precautionary custody orders in prison issued by the Judge for Preliminary Investigations of the Court of Grosseto, addressed to the same number of people, investigated in various capacities, in competition with each other, for the crimes of aiding and abetting and exploiting prostitution.

The investigations, started in November 2023, in the course of a broader monitoring and control activities of beauty centers in the capital, began by developing an information activity connected to “anomalous” oriental massage practices performed by girls in three commercial premises, results which were then used as real "Houses of Appointment”, where, during the observation activity carried out by the Carabinieri, they went, throughout the day, various male subjects.

Having identified and questioned numerous customers of those centres, it was possible to ascertain how the latter, after having viewed some sites on the web where they were Advertised ads related to sexual services, reporting photographic reproductions portraying girls with oriental features in explicit nude photos, contacted the users listed in the advertisements from which to obtain information on the access methods to the premises and rates for the various services.

Over time, traditional police activities were accompanied by technical ones, wiretaps, which proved to be crucial in revealing the context in which the criminal conduct was carried out, as well as defining the turnover of the illicit activity. estimated at around 1 million euros per year.

In particular, the following emerged:
– the figure of a man, which was found to have a primary role in the prostitution activity under investigation, since the same, using another person's identity, had provided:

• at the opening of “brothels” in Grosseto, moving the illegal activity here after having been hit in the past by similar investigations in the province of Siena;
• al payment of numerous rental fees of those sites;
• to the payment of large sums of money to the companies managing the websites on which they were Sexual services advertisements of the three centers were advertised;
• to hold numerous telephone contacts with the utilities used by the managers of the "call centers", appearing to be a driving point of reference in the management of the prostitution activity.

– that in each of the three centres under investigation there were four women, who turned out to be real mistresses (recipients of the custodial order) responsible for the almost constant "guarding" of the site, receiving telephone calls from clients who were given precise instructions on how to access it, welcoming them upon their arrival, taking delivery directly from the client or through the prostitute of the sums paid for sexual services, and recruiting individual prostitutes.

Three other people, male, I am investigated at liberty for their contribution in facilitating the prostitution activity carried out in the centres, which materialised in logistical support and transfers to prostitutes' brothels.