After Detectives Benson and Stabler find two small Chinese children mysteriously abandoned by their missing mother, they soon discover that the mother is an illegal immigrant whose older daughter is being held against her will until the mother can pay off the smugglers' fee for bringing the family to America. The police use the missing woman's sister, Li Mei , to penetrate the secretive society and find out what happened to her -- but their plan backfires when Li Mei is found severely beaten while bearing an ominous message from the kidnappers.