A total of nine spas in Methuen, Massachusetts, have been shut down for human trafficking. Five of the nine spas have been publicly identified. These spas include Beauty Garden Spa, Eastern Bodywork Therapy, Oriental Spa, Lavender Spa, and Yellow Lily Day Spa. The other four spas have not been identified publicly, because the owners had closed and abandoned the buildings on their own. “When inspectors arrived at those four locations, they were ghost towns with no sign of activity of any kind,” Mayor D.J. Beauregard said to Mass Live News.
The manager of the Beauty Garden Spa is the only person who has been arrested and charged so far. With the help from citizen Beth Foote, police arrested 38 year old manager Suping Zhu on September 26 with charges of deriving support from prostitution, keeper of a house of ill fame, and trafficking persons for sexual servitude, according to CBS News.
Beth Foote neighbored the Beauty Garden Spa. Beth Foote began taking pictures, writing down license plates, and giving police information after she became suspicious seeing women with luggage being dropped off and many men entering and exiting the building. “I look out of my office. I see hundreds of guys going in and not one woman. Yeah, maybe I’m nosy,” Foote said to Boston 25 News. “You saw people bringing food supplies in, and I mean it was pretty blatant,” Foote explained. Thanks to the information and evidence provided by Foote, police were able to send in an undercover officer and obtain a warrant.
After the second spa, Eastern Bodywork Therapy, was also shut down, Mayor D.J. Beauregard said, “We are declaring a war on human trafficking in the city of Methuen.” City officials have added a new Human Trafficking Task Force to fight against human trafficking. The mayor told Mass Live News that the city plans on finding other potential human trafficking spas by expanding Methuen’s public camera program, implementing license plate reader technology, and sending written notification to homes associated with cars repeatedly seen at suspected locations. “The message we have sent in declaring war on human trafficking is clear: Methuen is not a safe harbor for these criminal enterprises,” said Methuen Mayor D.J. Beauregard in a joint news conference.
Methuen Police will continue to conduct random surprise searches of any businesses that are believed to be a part of sex trafficking. “But this is bigger than Methuen. As I’ve said before, this is not just a Methuen problem. It’s a problem across Massachusetts. It’s a problem across the United States. Today, I am calling on leaders at all levels of government to join us in this fight.” said the mayor. The mayor and the police urge people to come forward with any information or suspicion people may have about businesses.
