Mission police bust four in prostitution investigation

MISSION - Online advertisements promoting prostitution led police to arrest four people here Thursday.

Two men were expected to be arraigned today on charges of promoting prostitution.

Police also arrested two women, one of whom allegedly offered to trade sex for money, said Mission police spokesman Lt. Martin Garza, who heads his department's special crimes unit.

Records seized during the raids Thursday could lead to charges against clients and other prostitutes.

"At the very minimum, they're going to be questioned by police," Garza said.

Investigators removed at least two computers and other evidence from a red-brick home at 710 E. 24th Place, near the intersection of Holland Avenue and Griffin Parkway, in the vicinity of O'Grady Elementary. Marked and unmarked police cars crowded the residential neighborhood as police arrested two middle-aged Hispanic women and an older man.

"The elderly man is actually running the operation - he's promoting prostitution," Garza said.

Officers arrested a second man they described as elderly for the same offense later Thursday morning.

Police withheld the names of those arrested pending their expected arraignment today.

Officers launched their investigation after learning about notices offering massage services on the popular classified advertising Web site craigslist.org.

The posts included nude photographs and Mission telephone numbers that led police to the locations they raided Thursday, Garza said.

"We're happy to wrap this case up," he said, adding the department's two-member cyber-crime unit will continue investigating such advertisements online.

Craigslist.org allows anyone to post advertisements, including personal ads, on its popular bulletin boards; posting to the community-moderated list is mostly free. Prostitutes frequently advertise on the site in violation of the list's terms of use.

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