Photo: Chaiel Schaffel/WBZ NewsRadio
METHUEN, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — The City of Methuen has shut down three more spas suspected of human trafficking, just days after two other spas were shuttered for the same reason.
Oriental Spa, Yellow Lilly Day Spa and Lavender Spa were ordered closed on Tuesday after investigators found evidence of unlawful habitation, unlicensed activity and code violations like unpermitted construction and unsanitary conditions, according to the city.
Methuen’s Beauty Garden Spa was the first to be shut down. The city announced the news over the weekend and said the closure came after a long investigation, which also resulted in the arrest of its owner Suping Zhu from New York.
A nearby neighbor first reported the alleged suspicious activity at Beauty Garden Spa to the Methuen police. The neighbor said they would see girls with suitcases being dropped off at the spa several times a month and men who drove luxury cars frequenting the spa.
Police shut down the business after investigating the spa earlier this month and discovered living quarters for two women in the building’s basement.
Zhu was arrested on Friday and was arraigned this week in Lawrence District Court on charges of deriving support from prostitution, keeping a house of ill fame and trafficking a person for sexual servitude.
She was ordered held on $25,000 bail and told to surrender her passport.
Eastern Bodywork Therapy, another local spa, was shut down Monday after inspectors responded to a complaint of unlicensed business activity.
Following the first two spa closures, Methuen Mayor D.J. Beauregard said he was declaring a war on human trafficking. He created a human trafficking task force, and told WBZ NewsRadio that he suspected more sex trafficking rings would be uncovered.
“You know we keep hearing from residents that there are other locations,” he said.
The city said the investigations into all five locations are ongoing.
“The progress of the past week should send an unmistakable signal,” Beauregard said in a press release Tuesday. “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.”