Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin gives update on program to fight human trafficking

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin gave an update Thursday on his office’s ongoing efforts to fight human trafficking in the state.

Griffin said Operation Obscured Vision was launched on Jan. 23 with coordinated raids on several illicit massage businesses in Harrison, Hot Springs, Jonesboro, Little Rock, Rogers and Russellville. This was followed by raids in Hot Springs on May 22 and again on May 28, he said.

The operation has to date served search warrants on 13 illicit massage businesses, resulting in seven arrests. The attorney general said the raids have resulted in seven arrests, with two arrest warrants still outstanding.

The two outstanding warrants are for 53-year-old Junfang Li, a Chinese national, and 53-year-old Yuanbo Xi, also a Chinese national. It is believed that both Li and Xi have fled the country, Griffin said, adding that six of the seven operation arrests were of Chinese nationals.

Twenty-three trafficking victims have been identified, Griffin said, with 22 accepting services. All the victims have been Chinese nationals.

More than $107,000 in cash has been seized in the raids, most of which is American dollars. Still, currency from China, Turkey, Thailand, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, and Serbia has also been seized, the attorney general said.

Griffin provided an update on Thursday on a July 28 raid of two massage parlors in Hot Springs that resulted in serving Arkansas warrants on a man in Oklahoma.