The arrests were made in Rosemead, Monrovia, San Gabriel, Alhambra, Monterey Park and unincorporated Pasadena. Charges included prostitution, keeping or residing in a house used for prostitution and operating a business without a business license.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department led the sting - "Operation Red Light" - which was conducted Tuesday and Wednesday.

"Given the large scale and multiagency personnel, I thought the operation went very smoothly," Sgt. Tri Hoang said as he was tallying up the final arrest numbers Wednesday.

Three teams out of the sheriff's Temple station were involved in the daytime sting, as well as police from Pasadena, Monterey Park, Alhambra and San Gabriel.

Each team was paired up with officials from the Immigrant and Customs Enforcement and the sheriff's vice unit, headed by Sgt. Mario Estrada.

"What I am really hoping for is helping people who are victims of human trafficking," Estrada said Tuesday before one victim was found.

Estrada said he seized two counterfeit hundred-dollar bills, which he will forward to the FBI.

The sting targeted prostitutes who posted ads online, including on the popular classified Web site, Craigslist.

The ads, which typically do not list specific locations, listed what cities the prostitutes worked out of, how many "roses" - or money - they cost, and offered a description of their bodies. Some included pictures.

During the two-day sting, authorities called numbers that were posted on the ads, set up times to meet the women and met them at the location the women suggested.

Authorities discovered townhomes and apartments that served as brothels, complete with hidden condoms, dozens of rolled towels, Kleenex boxes, bottles of lotion and baby oil.

"Yesterday, we had a pretty good operation. There were multiple different scenarios," Hoang said Wednesday morning.

Two women at separate locations jumped out of second-story apartment complexes and escaped from authorities. About 32 of the people arrested were female.

Most of the arrests came from Rosemead, including a location that was under surveillance in the 3800 block of Rosemead Boulevard that netted five arrests.

In addition, authorities made arrests at massage parlors and in hotel rooms.

"The amount of arrests made in the last two days was not alarming," Hoang said.

Though prostitution is a misdemeanor crime, these types of stings are more dangerous than the traditional operations that target men picking up street-walking prostitutes, Estrada said.

"You never know who is hiding in the house or what the officer is getting himself into," Hoang said.

jennifer.mclain@sgvn.com

(626) 962-8811, Ext. 2477

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