Griffin announces shutdown of 2 separate crime operations — a retail theft ring and an illicit massage parlor - The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

[Grant Lancaster]

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Authorities last month arrested 16 people charged in organized retail theft in Jonesboro and raided a China-linked illicit massage parlor in Hot Springs in separate investigations tied to two of Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin's highest priorities for prosecution, he said during a Monday news conference.

The string of arrests last week in Jonesboro were linked to thefts at 13 retail store locations including Home Depot, Lowe's, Academy Sports, Walmart and Target, Griffin said. While the May 22 raid at the AI Massage parlor at 3954 Central Ave. in Hot Springs didn't result in any arrests, authorities made contact with victims of sex trafficking and recovered more than $22,000 in U.S. currency, he said.

"None of the bosses were there, the victims were there -- all Chinese nationals," Griffin said of the Hot Springs raid, speaking from behind a table covered with stacks of bills recovered in the sting.

There was no evidence that the 16 people arrested in Jonesboro were all working together, although several of them were arrested working in pairs, Griffin said. Their methods also varied widely, he said.

One pair was arrested after attempting to steal a $700 air-conditioning unit from Home Depot by printing out a UPC code label indicating the price of the unit was about $20 and scanning it at the self-checkout, Griffin said. One accomplice attempted to distract an employee while the other checked out, but the employee noticed the discrepancy and the pair fled without the merchandise, he said.

When police arrested them, they had another air-conditioning unit in their vehicle which they admitted to stealing from Lowe's, Griffin said.

Another pair also tried to steal from the same Home Depot more directly, loading up their cart with items and trying to walk out of the store, Griffin said, but they were unsuccessful. People have been using a wide variety of methods to steal from retail stores, including gift card fraud, he said.

"We're not only getting bad guys -- and bad girls -- we're learning," Griffin said, referring to the variety of methods people use to try and steal.

Speaking about the raid at the Hot Springs massage parlor, where victims told authorities they ended up engaged in sex work after coming to the U.S. from China in response to ads for non-sexual work, Griffin described what he called "gray zone warfare" by China.

After the January arrests of four Chinese nationals operating illicit massage parlors where women were brought into the country and coerced into sex work, Griffin consulted experts in human trafficking, he said.

Griffin hasn't stated the Chinese Communist Party is directly involved in these criminal activities, but has charged that Chinese nationals are making money on these enterprises while weakening the U.S. morally.

"This is how they're disrupting society in Europe, this is how they're disrupting society here," Griffin said. "Yes, it's about money, but it's about something broader. It's that gray zone warfare I'm talking about. They are breaking up families and destroying our social fabric through these illicit massage parlors."

In addition to the large amount of U.S. currency, authorities recovered Turkish, Thai and Colombian currency, Griffin said. They also recovered about 100 condoms and what they think is a home remedy for sexually transmitted infections, which further suggests sex work was the purpose of the parlor, he said. They also located a receipt for the wire transfer of about $2,800 to China.

One of the victims they spoke with was flown from China to Mexico, where she entered across the southern border, Griffin said, clarifying that she crossed during a prior administration when immigration enforcement was handled differently.

The massage parlor raid was conducted based on information gained during the earlier investigation into parlors where sex work is offered, Griffin said, an operation he's dubbed Obscured Vision.

Raids on massage parlors this year have led to six arrests, warrants issued for the arrest of two people and the confiscation of a luxury vehicle and $92,000 in cash, according to a news release from Griffin's office.

The people arrested in the Jonesboro investigation were mainly from the Jonesboro area, with two from Tennessee, Griffin said. Griffin didn't name any of them.

Some of the people arrested on retail theft charges also had methamphetamine and fentanyl in their vehicle, Griffin said, and in total authorities brought more than 60 charges, about half of them felony counts, against the 16 suspects.

Since focusing efforts on combating retail crime in 2023, authorities working with Griffin's office have made 44 arrests and recovered stolen merchandise valued at more than $600,000, a news release states.