Town of Methuen has ordered now 5 complete spa companies underneath suspicion of harboring human trafficking operations to shut, Mayor D.J. Beauregard introduced Tuesday.
“We are moving aggressively to identify and close these businesses, to crack down on the evildoers who profit from human suffering, and to hold landlords, traffickers, and johns accountable,” mentioned Beauregard. “The demand created by johns is what fuels this evil criminal industry, and as Police Chief Scott McNamara indicated previously, we are targeting you next with the full might of the law.”
Methuen’s Division of Health, Human Companies, and Inspections issued cease-and-desist letter to 3 institutions suspected of being entrance for trafficking Tuesday, bringing the whole enterprise closed within the bust to 5. A citywide inspection of suspected location stays ongoing, Methuen officers mentioned.
The spas shut down Tuesday embody Oriental Spa on Swan St., Yellow Lilly Day Spa on Baldwin St., and Lavender Spa on Baldwin St. Two spas, Magnificence Backyard Spa on Wallace St. and Japanese Bodywork Remedy on Hampshire St., have been shut down final week.
The alleged human trafficking got here to gentle Friday, when the supervisor of Magnificence Backyard Spa Suping Zhu, 38, was arrested and charged with deriving help from prostitution, keeper of a home of sick fame, and trafficking individuals for sexual servitude.
Zhu, who resides in New York, was arraigned in Lawrence District Courtroom on Monday. The defendant pleaded not responsible and was ordered held on being held on $25,000 money bail, in keeping with CBS Information.
Police have been alerted to potential trafficking exercise on the location by neighbors complaints, in keeping with the Methuen Police Chief. The division acknowledged they undertook a “lengthy investigation,” together with surveillance and undercover operations, earlier than acquiring a search warrant Thursday.
On the spa, police allegedly discovered dwelling quarters for 2 ladies within the commercially-zone constructing’s basement, the division mentioned, main the town to shut the enterprise for zoning violations Thursday. The search “located numerous computers, phones and business records that were used in their ongoing investigation,” police alleged.
After interviewing two staff on the spa, Methuen Police issued an arrest warrant for Zhu, the division mentioned.
The extra spas have been ordered closed Tuesday after inspectors discovered “unlicensed activity, evidence of unlawful habitation within the commercial spaces, and multiple code violations including unpermitted construction, blocked egress, and unsanitary conditions” on the services.
The instances have been referred to the Methuen Police Division for felony investigation, the town mentioned Tuesday.
Beauregard counseled the inspectors and investigators, together with the residents and small enterprise homeowners whose experiences he mentioned have been “proven critical to the ongoing investigations.”
“The progress of the past week should send an unmistakable signal,” Beauregard mentioned. “If you are operating, enabling, or fueling human trafficking in the City of Methuen — whether as a trafficker, a landlord, or a john — we will find you, and we will shut you down.”
Metropolis officers mentioned extra info will probably be launched because it turns into obtainable.
Zhu is scheduled to return to court docket Oct. 24.
