Operation Family Ties: DA’s Human Trafficking Task Force Busts Brothel Network Worth Millions
MORGAN HILL, CA — December 11th 2025 — “The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office has charged members of a San Jose family with running a satellite of brothels that were trafficking dozens of women and bringing in about a million dollars a year.
Multiple co-defendants are facing felonies involving their operation of a network of at least 10 commercial sex brothels in Santa Clara County in locations including Gilroy, Morgan Hill, San Jose, Cupertino, and Mountain View.
In a coordinated effort, law enforcement arrested Joseph and Binghua Bresee, a married couple at the heart of the illegal business which operated under the legal cover of “massage parlors.” One of their adult children was also charged. The DA’s Office seized or froze over $1.25 million of illegal profits.
The multi-agency operation – which included DA investigators, the FBI and local departments – was nicknamed “Operation Family Ties.”
The Bresees and their co-conspirators are charged with 26 felonies including criminal conspiracy, pimping, money laundering, and tax fraud. At the arraignment on December 5, 2025, Judge Hector Ramon set bail for Binghua Bresee, 52, Joseph Bresee, 77, and Binghua’s son, Jiabao Huang, 30, at $1,000,000 each. An additional co-conspirator was arrested under suspicion of running money for one of the brothels. All of the defendants face prison time, if convicted.
“The trafficking of human beings has no place in our community, or any other,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said. “Modern slavery is morally and legally wrong and will be met with no toleration and – as you can see by the agencies cooperating in this operation – the strictest legal accountability.”
The investigation began in June 2025 when a Morgan Hill police officer became suspicious of one of the defendants applying to open up a massage parlor under another individual’s name.
Further investigation uncovered the size of the operation – which included an operating brothel in Hayward. The operation culminated in search warrants and arrests on December 3. The investigation remains ongoing.
The DA’s Victim Services Unit, Community Solutions and YWCA offered resources to the 18 workers who were recovered during the service of the search warrants. Over 40 different women were identified in the course of the investigation. Many women engage in commercial sex work because their autonomy is heavily constrained by factors like poverty and immigration status. This work can lead to crimes such as assault, homicide, and rape. It is a crime to solicit, encourage, assist with or make money from commercial sex work.
If someone needs help and wants to connect with services and resources related to human trafficking in Santa Clara, call the 24-hour confidential hotline at (877) 363-7238. To report human trafficking to law enforcement, call (408) 792-2700 or email httips@dao.sccgov.org.
The multi-agency operation involved dozens of law enforcement officers, including personnel from the DA’s Office and task forces, the FBI, the Department of State, the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office, the Gilroy Police Department, the Mountain View Police Department, and the Hayward Police Department.”
