After announcing the shuttering two Methuen massage parlors suspected of being fronts for human trafficking operations over the past two days, on Tuesday, city officials shut down three more local spas they believe are involved in sex trafficking.
Methuen’s Department of Health, Human Services, and Inspections has now issued cease-and-desist orders at Oriental Spa, located at 119 Swan St.; Yellow Lilly Day Spa, located at 17 Baldwin St., #6; and Lavender Spa, located at 17 Baldwin St., #7, city officials said in a press release Tuesday evening.
The spas were ordered closed after inspectors visited the businesses and discovered “unlicensed activity, evidence of unlawful habitation within the commercial spaces, and multiple code violations including unpermitted construction, blocked egress, and unsanitary conditions,” city officials wrote.
Methuen police are now conducting a criminal investigation into all three spas, but no charges were announced on Tuesday. It is unclear whether the five businesses that are now shuttered have any kind of connection to one another.
“The progress of the past week should send an unmistakable signal,” Methuen Mayor DJ. Beauregard said in the release. “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.”
Read more: Second Methuen massage parlor shut down, accused of human trafficking in 24 hours
On Sunday, Methuen police announced the arrest of 38-year-old Beauty Garden Spa co-manager Suping Zhu, of Flushing, New York, on human trafficking charges. Earlier this month, the health, human services and inspections department shut down the Wallace Street massage parlor on code violations after police discovered two women living in the basement of the business, police said previously.
On Monday, the department ordered Eastern Bodywork Therapy at 17 Hampshire St. closed after a city health inspector visited the massage parlor in response to a complaint reporting “unlicensed business activity,” city officials said previously. The inspector discovered that the business was unlicensed and found ”evidence of unlawful habitation and other materials consistent with criminal activity.”
City officials have accused both Beauty Garden Spa and Eastern Bodywork Therapy of being involved in sex trafficking, and both are under investigation by Methuen police. But so far, authorities have only announced criminal charges against Zhu and Beauty Garden Spa’s co-manager 34-year-old Yi Yu Huang, of Brooklyn, New York, who had a warrant out for her arrest as of Monday.
“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,” Beauregard said in the release.
Read more: Human trafficking at Methuen massage parlor: What police have said so far
On Tuesday, Beauregard also ordered a citywide assessment of businesses suspected of being fronts for human trafficking operations by the Department of Health, Human Services, and Inspections, according to the release. It is unclear how many businesses are under suspicion, but city officials said the assessment was “ongoing” as of Tuesday evening.
Earlier on Monday, the mayor announced the creation of a multi-department task force that will work with nonprofits and other community partners to crack down on businesses profiting from sexual servitude in Methuen. He also called on Methuen residents to help investigators target human traffickers by keeping an eye out for suspicious activity and reporting their observations to police.
“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,” Beauregard said Tuesday. “Methuen has zero tolerance for human trafficking — period.”