Police Baffled After Finding 15 Toddlers in Mansion Tied to Illegal Gambling Raids

• El Monte complex raided for gambling, drugs, counterfeit currency
• Arcadia mansion search uncovers 15 children and surveillance system
• Prosecutors weigh child abuse charges as trafficking concerns linger

A wealthy Southern California real-estate investor whose El Monte complex has been repeatedly raided for illegal gambling and drug activity is now entangled in a bizarre and disturbing child-welfare case. That’s after police found 15 children and signs of abuse inside his Arcadia mansion, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Authorities say Guojun Xuan, 65, owns “Pacific Place,” a commercial hub in El Monte that has for years drawn police scrutiny. Police raids since 2021 have turned up slot-style gaming machines, marijuana and mushroom grows, counterfeit cash, and firearms.

Investigators allege that tenants there, including a man named Haoren “Dragon” Ma, ran underground casinos and other illegal operations. El Monte officials recently filed a civil abatement case, accusing Xuan and associates of allowing a “sophisticated criminal enterprise” to persist on the property, the Times reported.

Xuan is accused of transferring ownership of the complex among shell or related companies in an effort to obscure control while illegal businesses carried on.

Shocking Raid

In May, Arcadia police searched Xuan’s sprawling nine-bedroom mansion after a two-month-old infant arrived at a local hospital with head trauma and retinal bleeding.

Inside, officers found 15 children, mostly toddlers, cared for by six live-in nannies. The house had been outfitted with classrooms, surveillance cameras, and bedrooms grouped by age.

Roughly 25 surveillance cameras had been installed throughout the house, their feeds routed to a monitor in Xuan and his partner’s bedroom, the Times reported.

Review of surveillance footage showed nannies were hitting toddlers, forcibly stripping their clothes, and shouting in their faces. The couple were arrested May 9 on suspicion of child endangerment.

Case in Limbo

Prosecutors have so far declined to file charges, citing the need for investigators to continue reviewing the enormous cache of video evidence before a decision whether to charge can be made. The children have been placed under the care of Los Angeles County’s Department of Children and Family Services.

Xuan and Zhang insist their family was built legitimately through surrogacy. Meanwhile, investigators have not confirmed whether the arrangements complied with US law.

Arcadia police have not fully opened an inquiry into the surrogacy contracts, but law enforcement has not ruled out the possibility that the case could involve human trafficking, though no such charges have been filed.