Brothel keeper Jie Ke Wang snared by text messages advertising services at his Birmingham home

A brothel keeper who arranged for a dozen women to be trafficked around the UK to work as prostitutes has been jailed for more than four years.

Jie Ke Wang operated a callout service – where clients would request a woman be sent to their address for sex work. Others were ‘rotated’ around the country to keep a supply of ‘fresh’ women for clients.

Last August, Wang was jailed for 15 months for managing a brothel at his home in Masshouse Plaza in Birmingham city centre which was discovered by undercover officers.

Investigation of mobile phones following his arrest revealed Wang’s involvement in trafficking women around the UK. Text messages revealed how he would haggle with customers on prices, and that he knew where girls were in the country. He would store contacts in his phone not as names but as areas such as Cov (Coventry) and Not (Nottingham).

He said he earned £500 every week as he played a ‘managerial’ role in deciding where the women would go to work. One text message recovered from Wang’s phone from a client, read: “Do you have anyone available tonight.” Others from Wang ask: “You want me to find you a proper Chinese girlfriend?” and “Pay a little bit extra or come back earlier.”

Wang sent a photograph of a woman, and arranged for her to spend two hours at a hotel in Birmingham for £300. Another message exchange revealed how one girl was sent to Wrexham for an overnight ‘outcall’ at cost of £600 for eight hours. The 48-year-old admitted arranging travel of someone with a view to exploitation and was jailed for four years and five months on Wednesday (24 May).

What has West Midlands Police said about the case?

Det Insp Al Teague, from the Force Priorities Team, said: “Wang’s business was the sexual exploitation of women and a form of modern slavery.

“He would negotiate the terms of the encounters the girls would have without consulting them. These are not victimless crimes – women were being exploited for financial gain, and we will always look to bring those involved in crimes like this to justice.”

The force said a number of the women who were working for Wang have now been referred on for help and support by other organisations.

A police spokesperson added: “The sentencing comes as we launched a major operation to target serious and organised crime in the West Midlands - Operation Target.

“We’re taking a defiant stand against a range of serious and organised crime offences – from drug dealing and burglary, to cyber-crime and fraud.

“Officers will be using local intelligence, seizing goods, carrying out warrants and targeting offenders as part of Op Target’s ongoing crackdown against serious and organised crime.”