TUSCALOOSA, Ala (WIAT) – Human trafficking and prostitution investigations are far from over following massage parlor raids on Thursday.
“It was shocking that it was so close to home and so close to Northport City Hall,” Bama Reptiles and Ranch owner Samantha Lovelady said.
West Alabama Human Trafficking Taskforce, Homeland Security and local law enforcement raided TuiNa Massage, Apple Massage Spa, and Eastern Massage. As of Thursday afternoon, eight people were in custody for questioning and the owner of all three locations, 70-year-old Jianping Chen, was in jail.
“Once I noticed the type of clientele going over there and how they were parked differently, it started to raise a flag,” King’s Kitchen employee Gae Green said.
King’s kitchen is a couple of yards away at the shopping plaza across the street from Apple Massage and Spa. Clients would park in front of King’s Kitchen instead of the massage parlor.
Lovelady’s business is next door to the Eastern Massage on McFarland Boulevard in Northport.
“There was just interesting clientele, people you wouldn’t think get massages, and they were there for extended hours,” Lovelady said.
“This is blatant prostitution services being offered out in the open,” West Alabama Human Trafficking Task Force Cpt. Phil Simpson said.
The parlors were also in violation of the city ordinance that prohibits people living inside businesses. During the raids, the workers were living inside all three parlors. Law enforcement also complied enough evidence to charge Chen with four counts of 2nd degree promoting prostitution.
Despite alleged violations and criminal activity, all three massage parlors can open on Friday.
“We are going to petition the City to Tuscaloosa and the City of Northport to revoke their business license, but right now, we can’t close them down,” Simpson said.
Over the last 18 months, the task force sent undercover officers into the businesses and kept surveillance the area.
Agents are trying to identify which workers were there at their own will, are victims, or the trafficker.
“That’s often not apparent to begin with,” Simpson said. “That’s why our FBI and HSI partners are here.”
Chen and the workers are all immigrants. Chen’s documentation is expired and HSI is still investigating the legal statuses of others involved, the task force said.
“We don’t know yet if they’ll be arrested, some will have ICE detainers,” Simpson said.
Simpson expects the investigation to last at least another two months. There are a lot of details the agency is trying to find out.
“It could be tied to other organizations, and that’s what we’re trying to determine — is this group a part of another group, and this is just where they set up in Tuscaloosa.”
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