Brothel raid
Brothel raid
Brothel raid
Brothel boss Di Wei
This is the moment an elite Garda squad swooped on brothel boss Di Wei. The 31-year-old faces being booted out of the country or a lengthy prison stretch after admitting allowing two apartments he rented to be used as brothels staffed by exploited Chinese hookers.
The Sunday World has learned that Gardai regard Wei as a Mr Big in the secretive Chinese Triad gang operating in Ireland.
Dozens of cops were involved in raiding four premises used by the brothel king in February 2011 as part of Operation Quest, which investigated prostitution, human trafficking and money laundering.
Gardai from the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (NBCI) carried out simultaneous raids on brothels across south Dublin run by Wei and the Sunday World was on hand to photograph them.
Undercover officers from the National Surveillance Unit had been secretly monitoring Wei’s every move for nearly a month before hitting the sex dens. They had photographed dozens of men each day coming and going from the knocking shops.
Wei had previously been arrested by gardai at one of his brothels and video recording equipment was found hidden in a wall, which detectives believe was used to secretly record punters.
Up to a dozen prostitutes were operating out of each brothel, which ran 24 hours a day, unbeknownst to the owners of the premises who had innocently rented them out.
Ten people were arrested as part of the raids and hundreds of condoms were found, as well as ledgers full of names and phone numbers of clients, mobile phones, laptops and €2,350 in cash.
Wei this week pleaded guilty to allowing two apartments he rented to be used as brothels, but waited until the fifth day of the trial to hold his hands up.
The fact that he cost the State tens of thousands of euro by contesting the charges means he is likely to face stiff penalties when sentenced next month.
However, it is understood that he might avoid serving hard time if he agrees to be deported back to China and not return.
After his arrest, Wei, who likes to call himself ‘David’, spent more than a day in custody, but refused to cooperate with gardai and would not answer questions.
Wei associates with senior members of the Chinese mafia, a feared group involved in extorting money from Chinese business people living in Ireland.
Gardai believe he operates at the very top of the Triad gang and is well-known and feared in the Chinese community.
The ‘businessman’ advertised his women on the notorious Escort Ireland website and is believed to have pocketed thousands of euro a week in profits from each brothel. When gardai raided a brothel at Observatory Lane in Rathmines, Dublin, they found industrial amounts of condoms scattered throughout the premises, along with copybooks full of phone numbers and times.
One packet of condoms was in a jiffy envelope addressed to Di Wei at the address. They also found several copy books, one with ‘Call of Duty’ written on the front. Another copybook had ‘Jessica/Cherry’ written on the front.
The copy books were full of lists of hundreds of phone numbers and times, together with some Mandarin Chinese characters.
Gardai also seized four Nokia mobile phones, some laptops and €2,350 in cash.
Evidence was heard at Wei’s trial how he was “intimately involved” in running two brothels in Rathmines and Custom House Quay in the city.
Gardai traced financial transactions from Wei’s bank account to a company called E-designers, which runs a website for Escort Ireland.
Gardai produced printouts from the website of several prostitutes that were employed by Wei and his senior ‘madams’.
Gardai believe that several of the Chinese prostitutes were trafficked into Ireland with the promise of legitimate jobs, but were then forced to work in the brothels.
The women were in such fear of Wei and his gangster cronies that they refused to cooperate with gardai.
Embarrassingly, several punters were forced to attend court this week and had to go into excruciating detail about their sexual shenanigans with the Oriental vice girls.
One man told of how he logged on to Escort Ireland and dialled a phone number attached to raunchy photos of hookers. He rang the number and was directed to the apartment complex opposite the Lidl supermarket in Rathmines.
A Chinese woman opened the front door and led him to the brothel, where he bedded her in a back bedroom. He paid her €100 before sex took place and she provided condoms for him to use.
Another man availed of the services of a prostitute known as YoYo. He called a phone number and was sent to an apartment complex behind Connolly train station. YoYo, who was slim and in her 30s, came out and brought him into the apartment.
She asked: “How long you stay, hour or half hour? €100 for half hour.” The man gave her €100 and got undressed and on to a bed. He then got a steamy massage and oral sex.
The Sunday World is not revealing the identity of the men to save their blushes – not to mention their marriages.
Gardai launched Operation Quest after receiving information that vulnerable women were being trafficked into Ireland from eastern Europe and the Far East for prostitution.
Wei is originally from China, but has lived in Ireland for at least six years. He moves from addresses in Lucan, Santry and the South Circular Road.
He was previously detained after gardai raided a vice den and found recording equipment hidden in the walls of bedrooms that were being used to film customers having sex with Chinese hookers.
Officers believe that unsuspecting customers were secretly being recorded and the material may have ended up being sold on the internet.
The court heard how Wei recently married and is the de facto father of his wife’s child. He is due to be sentenced later this month and has been remanded on bail and ordered to sign on at Kilmainham Garda station three times a week.