Jiajia Fan, 38, pleaded no contest in April and received two years of probation, the Los Angeles Times reported. Jiwei Zhang was arrested in August 2025 at a suspected Haskell Avenue brothel.
A person in the operation was described as “the main boss.” At least 10 San Fernando Valley residential brothels were connected to operations in other Southern California regions.
Statewide data and a separate LAPD case
Statewide figures offer context, not evidence about this investigation. The Public Policy Institute of California reports that sex trafficking accounted for 87% of reported California trafficking cases in 2015 and 89% in 2021. Those percentages describe the share of reported cases, not the number of cases in this investigation or a trend at any of its locations.
An earlier, separate example shows that residential prostitution investigations in the region predate this case: the Los Angeles Police Department said an investigation begun in April 2002 after a prostitution service was discovered in Huntington Beach apartments led to searches in Los Angeles and Orange counties and arrests in April 2003. That earlier case involved different people and circumstances; it does not establish a connection or indicate how common such cases are.
Support and services
For support or information, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office lists the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 and texting at 233-733. Its Human Trafficking Resource Guide lists court accompaniment, mental health referrals and relocation assistance through the Bureau of Victim Services at 1-800-380-3811.
