that's all for this edition of "caught on camera." across the globe, for those living below the poverty line, america symbolizes the land of hope, of economic promise. but for over 5,000 men, women and children seeking to improve their lives, life in america means something else. >> i feel like a slave. i don't have money, i don't have a passport and i don't have anybody. >> forced to become indentured domestic workers or sex slaves, selling their bodies.

>> they're going in that room right there. >> trapped in the land of the free with no way out. >> human trafficking is real. >> you're under arrest for prostitution. >> we have seen anyone as young as 7, to anyone as old as 75 years old. >> relying on the kindness of strangers to free them from captivity. >> this is something i would never expect here. >> open the door, sheriff's office. >> while devoted public servants do their best to fight those who prey on the vulnerable for big profits. >> it's nothing but modern day slavery. >> msnbc presents "trafficked: slavery in america." today in the u.s., the invisible reach of human trafficking traveled from the

dusty enclaves of houston to california's most affluent suburbs. it is a growing menace, sustained by america's need for cheap labor and underground sex. tonight, msnbc returns to houston where one-third of all illegals come into the country. young women in asia, trafficked and trapped into selling their bodies and dignity for cash. for those who find it hard to believe that sex slavery is alive and well in modern america, the human trafficking task force invites nonbelievers to ride along for a day in the life. >> well, houston is a hub. >> bruce carr has a federally funded human trafficking task force for harris county, texas. >> we have a big problem in the houston area with a lot of spas popping up in the outlying areas of the county. >> we're going to work off of

case number 547. >> the task forces mission, root out sex traffickers, hiding behind the city's many massage parlors and spas. >> our operation today, we're going to go into the vip spa. >> today's target, one of the 500 massage parlors or spas who use women who have been illegally trafficked from asia. >> this is the advertisements that they're advertising right here. they're talking about the age of the girls. then they're saying open seven days a week. and they have all these explicit pictures. >> the owners or operators of the spas do little to hide the fact that there's sex for sale. page through dozens of online sites and buyers can hand pick the girl they want down to her ethnicity and bra size. today's target is a place in the past where officers have rescued trafficked women, but after

shutting it down, it's reopened under new ownership. this brings investigators back for another look. >> we'll billion going out to this location to do a raid on the spa, get the girl, hopefully interview some other girls that may be there, take that information back as well as make the arrest and hopefully we can secure other evidence inside that business to indicate prostitution. >> the team heads out, hoping to make a dent in a criminal operation that's proved especially difficult to stop. especially difficult to stop. >> seems like you knock one down and ten more pop-up. >> with seemingly insatiable demand for easy sex bringing loads of cash to the underground sex industry, carr says police face a never-ending battle, one with high stakes and real human costs. >> it's not a victimless crime. i don't know any female that woke up one day and said i'm going to be a prostitute today. they got talked into it, tricked into it by some pump. and some pump out there is making money off the services of this poor girl.

>> the crew rendezvous in an alley near the spa to suit up. officers wear ski masks so that the spa workers don't recognize them when they come back to do undercover work. they'll send in undercover officers in there beforehand. >> to confirm that prostitution is occurring and we're going to do a raid shortly thereafter. >> we've got surveillance units. we're going to send first one in. >> as the takedown team gets into position, it quickly becomes clear that business is booming at vip. >> another customer just walked in. >> man, they have a lot of customers going in. >> the undercover officers don't want to raise the suspicions of the owners. so when the takedown happens, they've been instructed to continue acting as if they're just regular johns. >> okay, jumbo, start moving up to the back door and let me know when you're ready.

>> finally after watching a civilian leave, officer "x" moves in. >> okay. we're across. we're across. >> fall in behind them. >> open the door. sheriff's office! open the door! >> go into the back, go into the back. >> officers sweep the massage parlor, detaining the johns in the rooms. >> all the female employees go into room number seven. officers corrale three sacantly clad women as they attempt to flee. >> she looks young. >> which one? the second one? >> second one. >> we'll get ids on these girls, find out where their stuff is at. >> do you speak english? how about you? >> young, scared and foreign. the women pretend they don't understand english. what they don't know is they've

already been secretly recorded speaking perfect english when they solicited undercover officers for sex. >> where are you from? >> from the korea. >> our producer happens to speak korean, and confirms the young women are here illegally. >> how old are they, do you know? >> not yet. we haven't id'd them. >> how old do they say they are? >> 30. >> 30? >> yes. >> okay. yeah. uh-huh. >> and this one? >> 31. >> there's no way she's 31 years old, ma'am. there's no way. >> how long have they been here? >> i don't know. >> the three young girls keep their head down and tlet the older woman keep talking. >> the police let who they suspect to be the brothel manager do all the talking. the woman persistently denies being in a position of authority and plays dumb. >> i don't know. i just work in the kitchen. so, i don't know. >> what we usually find is clorox bottles. >> coming up, investigators search and find the physical

evidence they need to make a prostitution case at vip. >> this is how they hide used condoms. >> and that's a sure sign it's not just massage going on here. >> correct. >> would it surprise you if i told you there's prosecution going on in here? >> i don't know anything about it, so -- ♪ this isn't just the car we wanted to build. it's the car america had to build. ♪ the extended range electric chevy volt. from the heart of detroit to the health of the country, chevy runs deep. ask me. [ male announcer ] if you think even the best bed can only lie there... ask me what it's like when my tempur-pedic moves. [ male announcer ] ...talk to someone who owns an adjustable version of the most highly recommended bed in america. ask me about my tempur advanced ergo. ask me about having all the right moves. [ male announcer ] these are real tempur advanced ergo owners. find one for yourself. check out twitter.

try your friends on facebook. see what they have to say unedited. goes up. goes up. ask me what it's like to get a massage anytime you want. goes down. goes down. ergonomics. ergonomics. [ male announcer ] tempur-pedic brand owners are more satisfied than owners of any traditional mattress brand. [ woman ] ask me why i'm glad i didn't wait till i'm too old to enjoy this. [ male announcer ] start asking real owners. ask me how to make your first move. ♪ it's the perfect time to save up to $300 on select mattress sets. tempur-pedic. the most highly recommended bed in america. you get a 50% annual bonus. and everyone likes 50% more cash -- well, except her. no! but, i'm about to change that. ♪ every little baby wants 50% more cash... ♪ phhht! fine, you try. [ strings breaking, wood splintering ] ha ha.

[ male announcer ] the capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash. ♪ what's in your wallet? ♪ what's in your...your...

harris county's human trafficking task force has carefully orchestrated a sting operation at this houston massage parlor, renowned for trafficking foreign women. police are now seeking to better understand how the korean women got there. >> how old are you? >> 27. >> 27? >> that's not possible. >> when initially questioned, all three women say they've only been in the country for a few days. as the team searches the facilities, all the tell-tale signs of trafficking reveal themselves. from the atm in the lobby to the cramped living space filled with mattress and personal items.

the investigators have no doubt the owner is exploiting the women by selling sex for cash. >> most of these businesses have living quarters like this in them. as you can see, their beds here, their suitcase is there. they rarely, they don't even unpack. they keep their clothes in their suitcases. this is their home while they're here. >> officers say traffickers keep the women as virtual prisoners who must eat, sleep and work within these four walls, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. >> with surveillance monitors and a manager who controls their every move, the workers are expected to follow a strict protocol. >> this is what is known as your table shower where you pay for the services here, and they would strip you down, put you on there and do a complete table shower for you. and then usually you make a deal for the sex right there. sometimes in this room, sometimes in a different room. >> the reason they bring you here is to separate their

clients from their clothes so they can look for any type of listening devices or check through their wallets, to see if they have any money, and if they're law enforcement of any kind. >> make sure there's nothing in here. >> sometimes they hide the unwrapped condoms in these bath towels. we need to check through them just in case we can use them as evidence. they're not individually wrapped. they buy them in bulk and they hide them in any household item you can imagine. that happened to be a coffee jar. that's easy to find. you open up the top, it looks like coffee mate. it has a false bottom. actually, it's a screw-in bottom, as you can see. >> how long have you been here? typically, we try to interview the girls.

they deny they can't speak english. however, 24 hours ago, or a couple of days before, i had ucs come in here and have them speak english. it's very common for them to be uncooperative at first. >> this young woman says she's only been in houston for three days. at first, while the mamason is talki watching, she refuses to talk. but once they're separated, she confides that she doesn't want to do this type of work and wants to go back home. >> does she have a visa or passport? >> your green card? >> yeah, green card. >> this woman insists she left her visa at home in california and denies selling sex for cash, but officers soon find evidence to the contrary. >> what we usually find is clorox bottle. once i open up the lid i found used condoms inside. what i did was went ahead and cut it open just to show you that this is how they hide used

condoms. >> that's a sure sign that it's not just massage going on in here? >> correct. >> when confronted with used condoms, we tried to get some straightforward answers. would it surprise you if i told you there was prostitution going on here? >> i don't know. >> would it surprise you, though, if i told you that? >> i don't know anything about >> i don't know anything about it, so -- >> and what about the condoms that we found? >> i don't know. >> they were in the laundry area in a clorox bottle. there was no bleach, just used condoms. >> i don't know. >> but you're doing the laundry, right? >> yeah. >> do you use the bleach? >> i do use the bleach. >> that's the bleach that you use? >> yes. >> there are people who say you're the person running this massage parlor? >> i don't know who say that. who say that? i don't know. >> msnbc learned that this

self-proclaimed housekeeper is no stranger to police. in 2005, local and federal officers raided a california spa she owned where korean girls were selling sex for cash. young women just like these. >> do you sleep here? >> this girl, known as cherry, approached two undercover officers today and will most likely be charged with prostitution. >> what's your name? >> uk eong. >> where did you come from? >> l.a. >> l.a.? >> she says she's from korea, seoul. that's what she told me. she said she's been here for three days and she came from l.a. >> her status will also have to be checked. >> does she have a green card? >> no, just a passport. she travels a lot. >> meanwhile, officers search her purse for the money the undercover cops gave her earlier today. >> two, four, six, eight.

500. two, four, six, eight, 600. >> officers find $907. >> ma'am, you're under arrest for prostitution. do you understand what i'm saying? >> the team has what they need to charge her with prostitution. they hope that by booking her and interviewing her away from the mamasan, they may be able to learn valuable information about the criminal network behind massage parlors. and hopefully help her get out of the life. >> there were three girls working and mamasan. unfortunately, only one went to jail. the other girls we identified, again, they just arrived or said they had only been here a few days. >> while much of federal funding goes towards fighting sex traffickers, human rights advocates say there's a much more insidious kind of slavery that occurs behind closed doors. the enslavement of men, women and children as domestic servants or factory workers. >> i feel like a slave. i don't have money, i don't have my passport. and i don't have anybody. ragu .

[ thinking ] i wonder what other questionable choices i've made? [ club scene music ] [ sigh of relief ] [ male announcer ] choose taste. choose prego. your finances can't manage themselves. but that doesn't mean they won't try. bring all your finances together with the help of the one person who can. a certified financial planner professional. cfp. let's make a plan.

so how much do we owe you? that'll be $973.42. ya know, your rates and fees aren't exactly competitive. who do you think i am, quicken loans? [ spokesman ] when you refinance your mortgage with quicken loans, you'll find that our rates and fees are extremely competitive. because the last thing you want

is to spend too much on your mortgage. one more way quicken loans is engineered to amaze. ♪ in the last decade, cash profits from sex trafficking have driven the proliferation of massage parlors in virtually every city in america. but experts say the trafficking

of men, women and children for labor is much more common. from indentured servitude in hotels, restaurants and factories, advocates say that modern day slavery is alive and well in even the most affluent of homes. for four long years, a family in suburban san francisco enslaved lily samad, a native of indonesia. >> i feel like a slave because i don't feel money, i don't have my passport, i don't have anybody. if i run away, i say, you know, maybe somebody will kill me. >> in 2002, the family hired lily, then 24 years old, to be a nanny. they promised her a steady salary and a nice home. instead, lily says, the demanding diplomat imprisoned her, abused her and forced her to work 20 hour days, seven days a week for no pay. and where did this modern day slavery take place?

in one of the most upscale neighborhoods in the san francisco bay area. >> i mean, this is something i would never expect here. it's just -- i think it's just preposterous. >> heidi lived just four doors down from her employer. she couldn't help but notice the young girl wearing the same threadbare jogging suit every time she saw her. >> the thing that attracted my attention was she was washing the car every day. she came out to wash this car from top to bottom every single day, whether it was raining or cold or warm. we thought what a strange thing. why would some young girl have to come out and wash a car every single day? >> lily says washing and waxing the car at 6:00 am was only a fraction of her responsibilities. every day began with the feeding of the 7-year-old twins, who were not allowed to carry their books to the car.

along with her cooking and cleaning, her job also included carrying the diplomat's briefcase to and from the car, and being available at all hours of the day and night to serve him. >> late at night, he was asking me to make tea at 1:00. so i don't know. it's like 24 hours. >> lily says her captors started controlling her right away from the moment she first arrived at her house in the middle east. she then was forced to travel with them to the u.s. there she says, they would lock her indoors whenever they would leave the house. >> and even if they are inside the house, they would lock the door and hide the key. >> the problem is huge. >> human trafficking attorney cindy lu says there are thousands of lilys hiding in plain sight in america. >> how do you count a population that by its very nature and definition is hidden from you? >> the organization asian pacific islander legal outreach

represents over 200 victims of forced labor trafficking in the san francisco area. but according to a 2004 report from the u.s. department of justice, an estimated 14,000 to 17,000 people are trafficked into the united states every year, making the crime as prevalent as homicide. put to work in popular restaurants, major hotel chains and factories. these silent victims, says liou, are the human cost of the low pries customers pay for food and services in big cities like san francisco. >> we've seen anyone as young as 7, anyone as old as 75 years old. men and women. we've also seen sex trafficking cases. but also a lot of labor cases so that involving domestic servitude, hotel restaurant work. >> and, says liou, when the captors are wealthy foreigners or diplomats, they have little incentive to respect the u.s. laws.

>> heidi, who worked out of her home, would often see lily when she went to pick up the mail. >> once in a while, she would be there and she would see me standing there getting my mail. she would fly over and start talking to me. and she had this beaming expression on her face as if she were so happy to be talking to another human being. >> even though lily didn't initially convey any distress, heidi slowly began to have concerns about the welfare of the harried young woman. >> it was always clear to me she did not have much time to chat. because she would say, oh, i have to go now. i must go. so, she would run back, almost in a -- like she was afraid someone would see her. >> meanwhile, lily began to confide in heidi, one brief conversation at a time. heidi gradually pieced together the ugly and unrelenting reality of lily's daily life. >> she had to work from morning till night, midnight till 1:00 in the morning, 2:00 in the morning, 18 hours of work, seven

days a week. no holidays, no days off. no ability to go anywhere, visit her parents, nothing. and then after a while, she told me she was never paid. and i thought what a strange thing. >> for many, it's hard to understand why lily didn't just run away. but cindy liou says it's important to see the situation from lily's perspective. >> in the beginning, it doesn't regions it ter that it's necessarily really fishy. they just think, oh, this is normal. this is what's expected. >> in fact, lily had a good experience working as an international nanny. at 15, she left indonesia to live and work for a diplomat in saudi arabia. the family treated her well, paying for her vacation time, taking her with her to europe and teaching her arabic and french. so when she received an offer to work for another diplomat, she leaped at the chance. >> i'm so happy i heard diplomat

because i believe people are really nice people. >> but this family could not have been more different. after two years, lily finally persuaded her captors to send $1,000 home to her family. afraid and isolated, she didn't dare ask for more. >> no one wants to take a chance of putting their own family at risk or in danger. >> cindy liou says degradation and threats are powerful tools, threats like -- >> we'll hurt your family, or maybe we'll report you to the authority and tell them that you're the one who's doing something wrong, you're here illegally and it's your fault. no one is going to believe you. >> after years of isolation and humiliation, lily was near her breaking point. she was afraid she would spend her whole life enslaved to the diplomat and his family. with no one to help her, she turned to the only friendly face she knew.

>> someone knocked on the door. i opened the door and there was lily. >> i was crying. i said, please help me. >> i realized what am i going to do with her? what can i do? love this stuff. i'm starting to feel a change no longer feeling slow. i can't believe i thought irregularity was my normal. now i don't miss a beat. activia helps with occasional irregularity, when eaten 3 times a day. i knew lisa would love her new normal. ♪ activia love your new normal and introducing silky, fruity activia harvest picks. one more way to enjoy activia.

so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning... ♪ ...i flew us to the rock i really had in mind.

♪ [ male announcer ] the citi thank you card. earn points you can use for travel on any airline, with no blackout dates.

i'm melies la ray bemilissa rehberger. a toddler found in indiana after a tornado has died of her injuries. the child's parents and two siblings also died in that storm. help is reaching some in war-torn syria. volunteers are bringing in medical supplies and hygiene kits and blankets. thousands have reportedly been killed in the 11-month government crackdown. now back to "slavery in america." after four years of living the punishing life of a modern day slave in this pristine suburb of northern california,

24-year-old lily samad had lost all hope. working up to 22 hours a day for a demanding diplomat and his family, lily says her employers even made her work when she had debilitating fevers. penniless because the family refused to pay her, she lived a life of desperate isolation and growing depression. >> she is, you know, my everything. >> back in indonesia, lily's husband, andy, had heard nothing for three long years. he feared that she was dead. >> who can i call somebody here? i don't know. because she don't have phone number, didn't give me a number. it's really hard. no communication with her. >> finally in 2006, lily reached a breaking point. the diplomat's wife, who insisted lily wash the car, even in the rain accused the obedient lily of shirking her duties. >> i just cleaned the car from

inside and outside and everything. then she was telling me, why don't you clean the car? i tell you every day you have to clean the car. i was really, really mad. i went upstairs in the bathroom and just stayed there. i said, i cannot. if i see heidi, i say, i will just -- i will pack my stuff and just leave the house. >> someone knocked at the door. i opened the door and there was lily. >> i was crying. i said please help me. >> so i took her in. >> alarmed, heidi hid lily in the back of her car under a blanket and took her to the local police. the local police directed them to the fbi where lily was identified as a victim of human trafficking. when lily's employer went to police asking them to find her, they refused, saying she had left voluntarily. panicked about being exposed, lily's former oppressor pressured the indonesian embassy

to get lily out of the u.s. >> he had run to the consulate and said i will pay her what i owe her here in the consulate on the condition that i see her ticket going back to indonesia and that she does not speak to anyone. so i thought, well, i don't think that's acceptable. that's basically a form of blackmail. >> if you're a diplomat and you do have diplomatic immunity, there's very little the u.s. government can do to criminally prosecute you or for us to gather forms of recovery. >> human rights attorney cindy l liou says workers like lily suffer extreme abuse if their employer happens to be a diplomat, because special circumstances shield them from any kind of u.s. prosecution. it's called diplomatic immunity. and it means that high-ranking foreign diplomats who work

inside the united states cannot be arrested or prosecuted for criminal activity. as incredible as it sounds, some diplomats have gotten away with rape and murder in the united states. >> a lot of these diplomats are really powerful people in the country that they're from, and a lot of our clients still have family members in that country. unless you can secure the safety of those family members first, there's a lot of maneuvering to be done without just slapping down a criminal case immediately. >> unsure how to proceed, heidi and her family agreed to continue to hide lily with the diplomat just two doors down, heidi lived in constant fear of being discovered by a man they considered very dangerous, a man she says they knew could murder them and never face charges. >> i was very nervous. in fact, there were many nights that i lost a lot of sleep because i thought, oh, my heavens, what's going to happen? >> for months, they lived as if trapped in a surreal spy novel. lily stayed hidden in their upstairs bedroom for days at a time. occasionally heidi would sneak her out of the house. >> of course, i was frightened that they would see her.

so what i used to do is whenever we went from the kitchen to the garage, i would have a coat over myself and she would walk next to me and we would kind of slowly march into the garage. once she was in the garage, she would be in the backseat and i would put the coat over her. then i would put some empty shopping bags on top. >> for six months, heidi protected lily while a lawyer friend taemed to recover the back wages that had been promised. as a last resort, heidi wrote a strongly worded letter to the consulate at the embassy where the diplomat worked. >> when i sent this letter to the consol general, i said a group of concerned citizens would like for you to please take care of this because we do not want this to go into an international incident or to get into the papers or anything like this.

>> nine months after fleeing her captor, lily finally received the $6,000, as promised in her original contract. and what was the final cost per hour for her three years of labor? about 23 cents an hour. in 2009, lily was finally reunited with her husband andy and had a baby girl in october later that year. >> she is a great woman. lift me up from the bottom. she supports me to get better in life and everything. >> she's really everything for me. because without her, i don't know how to do. she's really understanding and she's really -- i mean, she's everything.

>> hello, succi. how are you? beautiful baby. >> today, lily is in the u.s. on a legal visa, and works as a nanny in san francisco. >> my life now is very happy and i have my baby and my husband also, he is here. you know, so it's -- now it's really happy that my life has really changed. >> the tv is not forever. >> no. they give you only four years. >> while lily's story of modern day slavery was resolved happily, cindy liou says lily represents a tiny fraction of those who silently suffer. liou says for every lily, there are hundreds of other workers trapped in servitude and sex slavery in the u.s. who aren't empowered enough to run and seek help. >> a big problem for a lot of our clients is that if you are residing in a country where you feel the laws don't apply to you and can't protect you, you're never going to feel safe. >> hello, inspections. please open the door.

>> police. that was me trying to be discreet

with my vial and syringe. me, drawing my insulin dose. and me the day i discovered novolog flexpen. flexpen is pre-filled with your mealtime insulin. dial the exact dose, inject by pushing a button. no vials, syringes or coolers to carry. flexpen is insulin delivery my way. novolog is a fast-acting insulin used to control high blood sugar in adults and children with diabetes. do not inject if you do not plan to eat within five to ten minutes after injection to avoid low blood sugar. tell your healthcare provider about all medicines you take and all of your medical conditions, including if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. the most common side effect is low blood sugar. other possible side effects include reactions at the injection site. get medical help right away if you experience serious allergic reactions, body rash, trouble with breathing, fast heartbeat or sweating. with flexpen, vial and syringe are in the past. ask your doctor about novolog flexpen, covered by 90% of insurance plans, including medicare.

[ female announcer ] introducing new nature valley protein bars. 100% natural ingredients like roasted peanuts... ♪ ...creamy peanut butter, and a rich dark chocolate flavor. plus, 10 grams of great tasting protein in every bar. so it's energy straight from nature to you. new nature valley protein bars. find them in the granola bar aisle.

since 2004, san francisco's health department has been in the business of putting sex traffickers, particularly those running illegal massage parlor, out of business. one of its lead investigators is ed walsh. >> initially, i was kind of naive to some of the stuff that goes on. i've never been to a massage parlor as a customer or anything like that. i knew there was sex going on, but i didn't know how it worked. >> walsh got a quick lesson about six years ago. >> hello, inspections. let me take a look over here. when we first took over the program, i went into a facility where there were women sitting

on towels on couches. and when i went in to check their id's i asked why they were sitting on towels. i asked them why they were sitting on towels. when they stood up, there was blood on the towels. they were bleeding from their rectum or their vagina. the first time i ever saw something, anything like that. it just blew me away. i couldn't believe it. >> dr. johnson ojo heads up the mayor's human trafficking task force. >> it's been very effective in reducing the number of illegal massage facilities in san francisco. >> can you come out here, please? thank you. we issued about 500 citations. >> fines to the tune of, $500,000, and we closed about 40 to 50 establishments. today we are going to be going out for a joint inspection.

>> today, the health department is backed up by inspectors from the fire department, building and code enforcement, as well as the city attorney. they are working together to help build cases against human traffickers and establishments running illegal prostitution parlors. >> that girl that was there, that was the one that solicited a police officer? >> in fact, the task force has been so successful that many of the downtown operators have scattered, choosing instead to hide behind phony fronts inside the city's quiet residential neighborhoods. >> what we do with this one, if we go late enough at night, there's a salon in front. and the salon is just for hair cutting. he closes at 6:00. so when all the lights get turned off, they're in the back. hello. hi. inspectors, please open the door. >> police. are they holding it? >> hi. >> police department. >> do you want to put a towel on that customer there?

>> my focus initially is on the masseuse. i need to id her and find out if she has a license. >> in the room next door, another customer is stunned when the lights come on and then even more shocked to see our cameras. when the inspectors try to identify the masseuse, the massage parlor manager plays dumb. >> i don't know. >> you speak mandarin. >> yeah. >> you can tell her that i want her to give me her i.d. >> she should always have it with her. >> is she no work. >> she was in the room with the customer. >> yeah, and the customer had no clothes on. >> oh. >> there was an online it says practitioner was in that room providing massage to client. we all saw it, but when we ask her for her name, she won't tell us. when we ask for id, she will not provide it. >> let's get the customer to talk. excuse me, sir. do you speak mandarin?

can you come here for a second? we want her to show us an id. [ speaking foreign language ] >> she forgot it. >> she forgot it. >> yeah. >> she has no id with her right now? >> do you have id? >> good luck cards? phone number? you have a lot of money in here. wow. no id, though. >> when an individual does not have any identification on themselves, those are indication that somebody is in charge of her day-to-day movement and that there's a likelihood that that person has been trafficked. >> you employ the services of unlicensed primary practitioner. for that i'm going to issue you a citation. >> she is not working.

>> she was working, she was in there. don't argue with me. don't argue with me. i went in there with a police officer and myself. the man has no clothes on, she's standing over him. okay? there's no argument there. >> the massage parlor is cited and closed down for the night. >> so you're going home. >> okay. >> early today. >> and inspectors move on down the line to another trouble spot. >> supposedly a john in here. saw somebody walk in. yeah. >> as soon as we walked in, this one masseuse got very, very nervous. >> where's the manager? how are you? >> good. there's a customer out here. >> we went right into the rooms and we saw this gentleman on the table getting ready for a massage. >> hi, sir. are you dressed? >> no. >> why don't you get dressed? who has a permit here? who's working right now? this is a customer. she knew she didn't have a permit. but the person in the room was just here to order food.

>> one customer inside. >> you give him massage? >> no. i take him inside the room. he waiting for one person, few minutes to come -- >> come from where? >> pack the food. the dinner. >> the person came here to order food? that was the excuse she used. i was like i don't think so. >> inspectors then notice something very strange. the woman is wearing an earpiece and taking instructions over the phone. >> my owner called. the manager is coming. >> so she's talking to the owner right now. they're getting high-tech on me. >> it's beautiful nonsense. >> with all the commotion and the presence of our cameras, it seems the customer has lost his appetite. >> my inspector is going to issue you a citation because you are running a massage without a license. as we leave here today, i want you to close your doors. you are closed. >> oh, sorry. i do not understand. >> you are closed.

you understand? you are closed. no business. >> nobody has a license here. you have to have a license. you have to have a license. you have to close now. everybody is ready to go, right? >> yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. >> let's go. our message is you have to follow the law. that's why we're out here tonight. can i see your massage id? if you hire massage practitioners, you have to have licenses. >> you lose your id? you lose it? >> yeah, it's here. i don't know who takes my id. >> san francisco is not going to tolerate anyone using his or her massage establishments as front for prostitution or human trafficking. we are here to serve the order. >> after a two-year battle, inspectors finally pull the plug on one of san francisco's most notorious massage parlors. >> you're supposed to close effective 5:00 p.m. today. it's good. we need the jobs. [customer:] we need to protect the environment.

[worker:] we could do both. is that possible? [announcer:] at conocophillips, we're helping power america's economy with cleaner, affordable natural gas. more jobs. less emissions. a good answer for everyone. well, if it's cleaner and affordable. as long as we keep these safe. there you go. thanks. [announcer:] conocophillips. the sleep number bed. the magic of this bed is that you're sleeping on something that conforms to your individual shape. wow! that feels really good. it's hugging my body. it works in a minute. i can get more support. if you change your mind once you get home you can adjust it. so whatever you feel like, the sleep number bed's going to provide it for you. at our semi-annual sleep sale, save $400 to $700 on our most popular bed sets.

sale ends soon. only at the sleep number stores. where queen mattresses start at just $699. mid grade dark roast forest fresh full tank brain freeze cake donettes rolling hot dogs bag of ice anti-freeze wash and dry diesel self-serve fix a flat jumper cables 5% cashback right now, get 5% cashback at gas stations. it pays to discover. how about some facts? the chevy volt was one of the most awarded cars in 2011. the volt's battery has been tested for more than 395,000 hours. ♪ and, most importantly, the volt has received the highest overall vehicle score for safety possible. [ cheers and applause ] the extended-range electric chevy volt. hard to argue with the facts. ♪

it's 3:45 in downtown san francisco, and while most city workers are close to ending their work day, health inspector ed walsh is just gearing up for a much anticipated takedown. >> today we're going to go to the sunflower spa. come on out. health department. >> it's the final round in a five-year cat and mouse game between city health inspectors and a massage parlor offering sex for cash right in the shadow of city hall. >> who is the manager? >> over the last several years with msnbc in tow, in raid after raid, this massage parlor has been cited for numerous violations, where the evidence of sex for sale is obvious. >> this is a house of prostitution. if you're just here for a massage, they don't want you there for a massage. they want the money for the extra service. >> built like a prison,

sunflower's managers keep watch on six monitors. >> that's so the owner has security over the girls. they can't leave the facility. they know if they're coming or going. >> year after year, authorities including the fbi received reports of young foreign women being coerced into selling sex for cash at sunflower. >> there were so many signs of trafficking. there were living quarters found in the space, holes in the walls where women who were working as so-called massage practitioners were hiding because they didn't have licenses. >> the first was discovered behind a false wall in 2006. >> what is this? >> this is where they were sleeping previously. >> this was a room with a lot of mattresses. belongings, shoes. there could be about eight to ten people sleeping in that

unapproved room. >> after multiple fines, sunflower finally walled up that illegal living space, but two inspections later, the task force discovered yet another concealed room. >> this is a mirror on the wall. behind the wall is a hole where you can get into the wall. when you open it, you discover there is a hole there. inside there, there is a very tight space. okay. look at me. come out. >> the investigation of sunflower went through the looking glass when inspectors found women crammed into a cubby hole behind this wall. >> stay right there. >> this is probably one of the most blatant in the whole list of massage parlors in san francisco. where they just disregard the law and they do not want to comply with the law. they don't care. >> over the year, sunflower spared no legal expense battling the health department and

managed to stay open. >> sunflower was able to hire the best attorneys to refute all our allegations, all our evidence. it took five years to build a big enough case where we thought we could revoke the permit. and every time we had one of these hearings, they provided the best defense they could with the attorneys that they were able to afford. >> but on this day, after numerous appeals, a judge gives the san francisco health department the ruling they always sought. >> ready to go sir? >> for ed walsh, the decision was a long sought victory and validation. >> are you ready for this? >> oh, yeah, this is it. this is great. they know it's going to happen. because they've been through the process. the final appeal to rehear the case with the board of appeals, they got denied. so they know that we're getting ready to close them. >> when the inspectors descend upon sunflower, they find the proprietor somewhat reluctant to answer the doorbell.

unable to gain entry from the front door, inspector walsh goes around back. >> and as i approached the backdoor, the gentleman who was walking up the stairs here. how are you doing, man? >> good, how are you? >> are you coming out this way? can you open it, please? thank you. >> thanks. >> he had his shoes in his hands. he's barefooted, walking out of the premises. >> san francisco police, can you open the door, please? >> with walsh now inside, sunflower has no choice but to open up for inspection. >> is there anybody else here today besides you? no girls? no? >> i sold everything. i'm done. >> after a quick search of the premises -- >> you have immigrant girls, there's always going to be little trap doors, hiding places. >> including all of the favorite hiding spots. >> there were girls hiding here the last time. there's still shoes here, though. but the hole has been sealed up. >> investigators conclude the

massage parlor is deserted. >> we are here to serve the order indicating that your license has been revoked. >> yeah, but i already sold everything in here for the new person and they do a different type of business. i suppose to be out now, take all my stuff so they can come in and do their own business. >> how are you doing, man? >> good. >> good. how are you? >> when asked about the barefoot man who scrambled out the backdoor, the proprietor told investigators he was her boyfriend. >> and the guy was going out with his shoes in his hands. that shows that there probably were still a lot of activities going on at that location. >> okay, i posted the sign on the front door saying your permit has been revoked. do not remove it. you're supposed to close effective 5:00 p.m. today. no customers. no massage activities.

okay? >> thank you. >> thank you. >> i think in the 21st century, no one should tolerate anybody being used as a sex slave. i will say it to people listening out there that human trafficking is real, and all they need to do is just take one step back. and ask themselves, would they want their daughters to be in that kind of situation? and those that have the ability to stop this should do everything they can to put an end to it. >> for now, the problem of human trafficking in america is a growing one, and the battlefield is nationwide, involving tens of thousands of victims, many scarred for life. some lost, others dead. each day, law enforcement is winning small victories, closing down the sunflower massage parlor, and the legal battle to win lily's freedom from human servitude. it is victories like these that will help win the war against human trafficking.