Two men and a woman were arrested after investigators served search warrants at two brothels in Walnut last month, a detective confirmed Wednesday.
The brothels were mentioned by Sheriff Robert Luna on Tuesday during a press conference about Operation Reclaim and Rebuild, a statewide operation focusing on human trafficking, where more than 600 arrests were made.
The two Walnut houses were set up as brothels, but only one was active, said Sheriff’s Lt. Maricela Castillo of the Sheriff’s Special Victims Bureau, Human Trafficking Task Force. They were operated by the same person, she added.
A 2024 tip started the investigation into the Walnut case. The tipster suspected the house was a brothel due to the traffic it drew, according to Detective Pete Mejia.
Citing the ongoing investigation, Mejia declined to release the suspects’ names or the addresses of the two brothels. But he said the houses are near each other and the closest major intersection is Grand Avenue and Amar Road.
Search warrants were served Jan. 29 at the two Walnut houses, as well as a West Covina location where one of the suspects lives, Mejia said. A Walnut man, a West Covina man and a woman were arrested on suspicion of human trafficking, he said. Mejia didn’t have the city of residence for the woman.
Three women were found at the brothel that was in operation, he said, adding the victims were not being held hostage.
Authorities don’t know yet how the women ended up in the brothels and how long the brothels have been around.