BARTOW COUNTY, Ga. — Zhu Chen, owner of Wellmade Flooring in Bartow County, was arrested Wednesday after an investigation into labor trafficking.
Channel 2′s Tom Jones was the first reporter at the facility as a combination of federal agents and local law enforcement agencies entered the Wellmade Flooring site en masse.
In addition to Zhu Chen, arrest records from Bartow County show that Jiayi Jia Chen was also arrested.
Both men face three counts each of trafficking persons for labor servitude, which are felonies.
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The arrest warrants for both Zhu Chen and Jiayi Jia Chen show multiple dates for the charges, which include three unnamed victims for each man arrested. It was not immediately clear if the victims were the same individuals or different, dependent on those charged.
The relationship between the two men was not immediately clear.
Channel 2 Action News spoke to federal agents on Wednesday while the operation was underway, learning that Zhu Chen, also known as “George,” was under investigation for both labor trafficking and financial crimes.
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The months-long investigation started when members of Homeland Security and other agencies learned Zhu Chen was bringing in workers from other countries and forcing them to work at the flooring company in Cartersville.
Members of law enforcement told Channel 2 Action News that there were between 300 and 400 foreign nationals working there, all victims.
Lindsay Williams, with Homeland Security, said “These folks today are primarily from China, but there are some other countries involved as well.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation was also present in a support capacity.
Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge Brian Ozden told Jones they brought translators in to help interview victims and witnesses, and that agents had searched the production facility and seven nearby homes during the operation.
A former Wellmade Industries employee told Channel 2′s Courtney Francisco that conditions inside the factory were “terrible.”
Speaking with Channel 2 Action News, former employee Lacortney Ware said “the way they treated their employees was terrible.” Ware worked at Wellmade until 2022.
The facility opened in 2019 and expanded in 2020 with a $35 million investment.
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