ARCADIA MANSION HOLDS AN ARRAY OF DARK MYSTERIES

PROMPTED by a report of suspected child abuse, police found 15 children living in the Arcadia home, center.

- ALLEN J. SCHABEN Los Angeles Times

onto a human trafficking operation or whether, as Xuan and his partner told police, the couple “simply wanted to have a large family.”

Arcadia police asked the FBI to investigate after learning Xuan and his partner, Sylvia Zhang, 38, transferred money to surrogates and traveled across state lines to collect the children, Cieadlo said. An FBI spokesperson declined to comment.

But Xuan’s ownership of the drug-plagued El Monte property — which has not been previously reported — has deepened the mystery surrounding the family.

It’s possible Xuan was merely an unwitting landlord to bad actors. Court records show his companies evicted several tenants in 2025, alleging they violated leases by engaging in illegal activity.

No charges have been filed against Xuan or Zhang, who did not respond to inquiries from The Times. In comments to the Wall Street Journal, Zhang denied involvement in human trafficking and said she was motivated by the damage of China’s one-child policy to have as many kids as she could afford.

The search of Xuan’s home that revealed the children has mystified neighbors in a suburb whose good schools and safe streets have made it a landing spot for wealthy Chinese emigres. Journalists staked out Xuan and Zhang’s beige stone home with a large balcony and twin turrets. Some reports heaped speculation atop what little was publicly known. “Twisted baby factory,” one tabloid declared.

But after making headlines in July, the mystery seemed to fade from public view.

Then last month, El Monte filed a civil abatement claim against Xuan and others connected to Pacific Place, laying out a series of police raids that allegedly uncovered illegal gambling and drug manufacturing.

In the complaint, El Monte authorities say they found evidence at Xuan’s property of a “well-established, sophisticated and persistent criminal enterprise”: Trash bags full of drugs. Guns. Counterfeit currency.