LAUREL, Md. — Here at the Econo Lodge on Washington Boulevard in Laurel, the management had only noticed the women of Asian descent attracting plenty of male visitors for a few days, when police swept in and arrested 46-year-old Wenbo Wang of Brooklyn, New York on human trafficking and prostitution charges.
"She was placing ads online offering sexual services with women and then she was taking those women to the appointments, arranging those meetings and then collecting money after those meetings were completed," said Sherry Llewellyn of the Howard County Police Department.
According to charging documents, the tip that broke this case came from a woman who was being trafficked at a motel in a neighboring county by the same woman.
Through that victim, detectives discovered ads on a website called cityxguide.com, which claimed a Japanese girl named ‘Jennifer’ would be available for happy massage or to do whatever you want for $160 per hour.
The rate went down to $140 for a half hour.
When police approached the suspect and one of her alleged victims, they called one of the advertised numbers and Wenbo's phone went off immediately.
The detective in this case noted that many suspects have given an identical name and address in New York upon their arrests, yet their pictures vary making it difficult to identify who these human traffickers really are or where they come from.
"At this time, we don't know how many women may have been victimized,” said Llewellyn, “and we are asking people to look at her photograph and if she looks familiar, and if someone thinks they know her or maybe were victimized by her, we want them to call the police."
Investigators are asking anyone who may have information or been a victim of Wang’s (or may know her by another name) to contact police at 410-313-STOP or HCPDcrimetips@howardcountymd.gov.
She is now being held at the Howard County Detention Center under a $500,000 bail.
