Three young men are accused of forcing immigrants from China into prostitution, beating them with hammers and robbing them in hotels in Portland, Beaverton and Omaha, Nebraska.
The men face indictments in the two states but authorities said they suspect the three have been involved in identical attacks in other states.
They’re accused of using zip ties to restrain the women in hotel rooms, then beating them with hammers and stealing the cash they obtained through prostitution, according to federal and state records.
Xinyu Zhou, 21, Yuan Gao, 19, and Arian Esfadiari, 18, face federal indictment in Nebraska and state indictments in Multnomah and Washington counties. Beaverton and Portland police worked with FBI agents on the investigation.
On Nov. 5, members of a U.S. Marshals Service task force stumbled upon a woman bound to a chair who had been severely assaulted with a hammer in a hotel room in the 9700 block of Northeast Sandy Boulevard in Portland.
The marshals had gone to the hotel to look for a fugitive in an unrelated case. The marshals worked with Portland police to rescue the woman and investigate the assault, according to Portland police.
As police were on the scene, a second victim who had also been bound and beaten was discovered nearby, according to the Police Bureau.
The victims in the Portland attacks were both Chinese nationals who were brought to the United States on fraudulent visas and under misleading terms, according to Portland police. Victim advocates assigned to the Portland Police Bureau’s Human Trafficking Unit have been coordinating care and recovery efforts for the victims.