By Della Hasselle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Authorities arrested nearly two-dozen Chinatown business owners for an alleged criminal scheme that transported illegal Chinese immigrants to the U.S. to work, Fox News reported.
The victims, who were believed to have paid $75,000 to be smuggled into the country, were allegedly held in "unsanitary conditions" while working at Chinatown restaurants and other businesses, Fox reported.
"We think this is a vulnerability," U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement New York Special Agent James Hayes, Jr. told Fox. "We believe this is a priority for us, and we think there are other businesses whose business model is to exploit foreign workers to make profits."
The eight-month investigation was the agency's largest of employers suspected of illegal immigration thus far, Hayes told Fox.
