$130000 of cash seized in raids of Asian massage parlors in Springfield, documents show -...

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Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley said it's believed women from China or east Asia were held against their will at these businesses as part of one large trafficking ring. Giacomo Bologna

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Peace Massage at 3029 E. Sunshine St. is one of more than a dozen Asian massage parlors in Greene County raided as part of a sex trafficking probe on Thursday.(Photo: Andrew Jansen/News-Leader)Buy Photo


Four days after authorities raided Asian massage parlors throughout Springfield, court documents show, a trooper from the highway patrol went to a bank with a key and a demand.

The safety deposit box is empty, bank employees allegedly told him — a man had just come to empty it.

With a description provided by employees, the Missouri State Highway Patrol found the car and seized the $12,760 inside.

That money was part of more than $130,000 seized by authorities as they investigate an alleged sex trafficking ring that operated in more than a dozen Asian massage parlors in Springfield.

Troopers and Springfield police officers targeted 13 massage parlors and five residences in daytime raids on July 20. Since the raids, court documents, including warrants and civil forfeiture suits, have become public.

Those documents show authorities took $130,705.00 in cash from 10 different people.

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Most of the cash was found at the massage parlors, but sometimes authorities found keys that led them to safety deposit boxes containing thousands of dollars in cash.

It's unclear what will eventually happen to that money, but a spokeswoman for the Missouri State Attorney General said the money is currently in the possession of the highway patrol.

“The money seized during the human trafficking raid is now part of the ongoing criminal investigation and will remain in evidence with the Missouri State Highway Patrol until the investigation is complete,” said spokeswoman Loree Anne Paradise.

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