Five Charged in Connection to Human Trafficking Case in Mississauga

Peel Regional Police has charged five people in connection to a human trafficking case in Mississauga involving 13 victims. Det. David Laing spoke with reporters at Peel police headquarters and shared that they acted on a report of an illegal bawdy house in a condominium in Mississauga.

Project Pacific, which was launched in April 2022, has busted a human trafficking operation in Mississauga. Five people have been charged who exploited the vulnerabilities of the victims to “coerce and manipulate them into working and living within these illegal bawdy houses.” According to the police, there were 13 victims who “came to Canada for a better life” but were coerced into working in the sex trade.

“Vice investigators identified a criminal network operating multiple illegal bawdy houses within the city of Mississauga. It was determined that these illegal bawdy houses were being openly advertised for sexual services on the internet,” said Det. David Laing.

He also explained that all 13 of the victims were of Chinese descent. Out of the 13, 12 were recruited domestically. Since many of them were not allowed to legally work in Canada, the suspects exploited these people giving them some form of work.

The five suspects were arrested in March and April from their residences in Mississauga, Milton, and Markham. Leung Ngai, 59 and Yuan Yuan Zhang, 39, were arrested on March 27. Yu-Hobley Lan, 63, and Kwai Lin Tso, 55, both Mississauga residents, were arrested on April 5. Eamonn Handrahan, 71, was also arrested on April 14.

Det. Lang added, “Investigators anticipate additional charges to be laid against members of this criminal network for their financial gain and exploitation of the victims identified as we continue to gather and review the abundance of evidence seized throughout this investigation.”

Vineet Washington