4 women, 1 man charged in Ontario human trafficking case involving 13 victims

Four women and one man have been charged in connection with year-long human trafficking investigation in Mississauga that police say involved 13 victims who "came to Canada for a better life" but were instead coerced into working in the sex trade.

On Wednesday morning, police held a news conference to announce charges in the investigation, dubbed “Project Pacific, which was launched in April of 2022.

“The Peel Regional Police vice unit received a community complaint regarding an illegal bawdy house operating out of a condominium apartment in the city of Mississauga,” Det. David Laing told reporters at Peel police headquarters on Wednesday.

“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.”

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He said the suspects in the case exploited the vulnerabilities of the victims to “coerce and manipulate them into working and living within these illegal bawdy houses.”

“All 13 victims in this investigation are of Chinese descent and have varying immigration status,” Laing added.

David Laing, Det. Specialized Enforcement Bureau, speaks to the media on May 31, 2023. (CTV News Toronto)

“One thing that all of these victims had in common was that they came to Canada for a better life, however 12 of these victims were recruited domestically.”

Search warrants were carried in Mississauga, Milton, and Markham on March 27 and as a result, two women were arrested.

Leung Ngai, a 59-year-old Milton resident, was charged with exercising control, direction of influence, three counts of deriving material benefit from sexual services, communicating for the purpose for consideration for sexual service, three counts of trafficking a controlled substance, and two counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking.

Yuan Yuan Zhang, a 39-year-old Markham woman, was charged with six counts of communicating for the purpose for consideration for sexual service.

Police say the search warrants resulted in the seizure of Canadian and U.S. currency, multiple cellphones and other electronic storage devices, and a quantity of drugs.

On April 5, another round of search warrants were executed on five homes and two vehicles, leading to the arrest of two more women, police say. Drugs and Canadian currency were also seized.

Yu-Hobley Lan, a 63-year-old Mississauga resident, was charged with exercising control, direction or influence, three counts of deriving material benefit from sexual service, and possession of a controlled substance.

Kwai Lin Tso, a 55-year-old woman who also resides in Mississauga, was charged with communicating for the purpose for consideration for sexual service, and possession for the purpose of trafficking.

Police say a 71-year-old man was also arrested in connection with the case on April 14. Eamonn Handrahan, of Mississauga, was charged with one count of possession for the purpose of trafficking.

“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,” Laing said.

“As we believe there are additional victims and witnesses, we ask them to come forward.”