Four Methuen spas that city officials suspected of being fronts for human trafficking operations have abandoned their buildings in the wake of a crackdown on sex trafficking at bodyworks businesses in the city this week, city officials said Thursday.
“Just one week ago, there were nine bodyworks businesses in Methuen with suspected human trafficking activity,” Methuen Mayor D.J. Beauregard said during a press conference. “ … In less than a week, every single one of them has either been shut down by the City of Methuen or abruptly abandoned.”
Five of the spas were closed by the Methuen Department of Health, Human Services, and Inspections, with one being shuttered in early September and the other four shut down earlier this week. For more Methuen bodyworks businesses — which were not identified by officials on Thursday — closed on their own, according to officials.
“When inspectors arrived at those four locations, they were ghost towns with no sign of activity of any kind,” Beauregard said. “The message we have sent in declaring war on human trafficking is clear: Methuen is not a safe harbor for these criminal enterprises.”
So far, only the co-managers of one massage parlor have been charged with human trafficking-related crimes. But more charges are expected to be filed against all those involved in sex trade operations, from business owners to landlords to patrons who solicit prostitution, Methuen Police Chief Scott McNamara said Thursday.
McNamara also clarified that investigators have not determined whether these businesses are connected in any way.