Arkansas’ top prosecutor on Friday said four Chinese nationals were arrested and charged as part of a statewide crackdown on human trafficking in which victims were forced into prostitution.

Attorney General Tim Griffin said authorities arrested Hongliang Cai, 55; Qing Chen, 53; Haiyan Lu, 54; and Chunli Wang, 50, on prostitution and sexual assault-related charges after accusing them of deceiving the victims into working at massage parlors.

“Many of the women working in these illicit massage parlors are coerced to do so,” the attorney general’s office said in a release. “One victim we interviewed stated that she is forced to work seven days a week, 13 hours per day.”

In total, the attorney general said 17 victims were identified during the trafficking scheme in which asylum-seeking women responded to an ad about working in the U.S. before they were forced to work at the massage parlors.

The victims are between 29 and 65 years old, authorities said.

Investigators seized nearly $70,000 in cash and a luxury vehicle during raids in Jonesboro, Russellville, Hot Springs, Rogers, Harrison and a hotel in Little Rock. Some of the seized cash was Chinese currency.

Mr. Griffin said the suspects are involved in a “network that goes far beyond our borders.”

“The criminals who run these establishments and the men who patronize them are on notice,” the attorney general said. “We are coming for you, and we will put an end to this horrific practice of exploiting women through human trafficking.”

• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.