PORTLAND, Maine (AP) Detention hearings are scheduled for a married couple accused of using Chinese nationals in a sex-trafficking operation in northern New England.
The hearings are set for Tuesday in Portland, Maine, for 37-year-old Derong Miao, and her husband, 37-year-old Shou Chao Li, who have been detained since their arrests last month.
They’re accused of using a messaging system popular in China to lure women to come to the United States on tourist visas to work in the sex trade.
The Concord, New Hampshire, couple is accused of running the operation at locations in Maine, Vermont and their home state. Authorities say the scheme involved at least 27 women and hotels and rented houses across the three states.
