Chinese National Arrested on Federal Sex Trafficking Charges in Boston

A Chinese national was arrested Wednesday on federal charges alleging she trafficked women from Asia to work in a prostitution ring operating out of apartments in Boston. The suspect, Zengzeng Liu, 40, also known as "Bella," was indicted June 24 by a federal grand jury in Massachusetts on four counts of recruiting or persuading individuals to travel to engage in prostitution and three counts of using interstate or foreign communications to operate a racketeering enterprise, according to an affidavit filed Wednesday by an FBI task force member.

The operation was uncovered in late 2025 after an FBI task force began investigating advertisements posted on a website known for facilitating prostitution. The online advertisements directed customers to apartments in the Allston and Brighton neighborhoods.

One undercover FBI agent called the phone number listed in one of the advertisements and arranged a $600 commercial sex encounter at an apartment on Gardner Street in Allston, which a neighbor complained regularly received male visitors. A woman dressed only in her underwear answered the door, per the affidavit.

After identifying themselves, the undercover agent and other task force officers entered the apartment. Inside, investigators found a lightly furnished two-bedroom apartment. Each bedroom was said to contain a single bed covered with a white sheet, alongside bottles of lubricant and rolls of toilet paper.

The women recruited by the operation were primarily foreign nationals, including one from Japan and two from Vietnam. During their stay, they were not allowed to leave the apartments, they told officers. All three women said they had been recruited in a similar manner through WeChat, and none said they had ever met Bella in person.