Police make prostitution arrest
Published Sept. 18, 2007
A woman working in Boone County faces third-degree prostitution charges, as well as deportation from the United States. After three to four weeks of investigation, the Boone County Sheriff's Department obtained a search warrant and arrested Xue Lan Bian on Sept. 14.
The Boone County Sheriff's Department received anonymous information that Lan was operating a prostitution service from a single-room massage business called A.M. Chinese Relaxation Treatment, located in the Midway Travel Plaza.
The business had only been operating in the Midway Travel Plaza for two months.
"We leased an area to them and then rented them the motel room," said Randy Trierweiler, manager of the convenience store where the business is located. "And we let them know that if there were illegal improprieties, we would eject them."
Trierweiler said the business was shut down within two hours of the arrest. Trierweiler said he and the actual owner of the convenience store had no knowledge of Lan's activities.
According to the Boone County Sheriff's department, Lan is being held in the Boone County Jail on a $5,000 cash-only bond.
Sgt. Mike Stubbs, who is in charge of the investigation unit of the Boone County Sheriff's Department, said they only act upon a case when they get a specific complaint.
Stubbs said the difference between a regular case and a prostitution case is that all the evidence needed is not readily available.
"If someone shoots someone, that's pretty cut and dry," he said.
He said it is more difficult to put evidence together for this type of case.
Stubbs said there is generally a level of suspicion regarding operating massage parlors. He also said he does not have clear statistics to show whether prostitution in Columbia is on the rise or not.
"It's obvious it goes on," Stubbs said. "They don't call it the world's oldest profession for nothing."
