Methuen police said they closed a massage parlor and charged its manager with alleged human trafficking and deriving support from prostitution.
Methuen Police Chief Scott J. McNamara said in a press release Sunday that after conducting surveillance and undercover operations, it obtained a search warrant last week to enter Beauty Garden Spa, 5 Wallace St., Methuen. Police said there was a lengthy investigation prompted by resident complaints.
The release said 38-year-old Suping Zhu of Flushing, N.Y., was arrested Friday and charged with deriving support from prostitution, keeping of a house of ill fame and trafficking person for sexual servitude.
McNamara said, “To the ‘johns’ fueling this despicable trade, know this: you are not invisible, and we are targeting you next with the full might of the law. Human trafficking and sexual servitude are not victimless crimes. They exploit the vulnerable, destroy lives and poison our community.”
During the search, police said, they found living quarters for two women in the basement of the commercially-zoned building. Police notified the Methuen Department of Health, Human Services and Inspections, which ordered the business closed citing “the unlawful habitation of individuals within a commercial premises lacking the requisite residential facilities and accommodations necessary to support lawful occupancy.”
Police later found computers, telephones and business records and interviewed two women who were worked in the spa. The Beauty Garden Spa has remained closed since the search warrant was served.
Zhu is scheduled to be arraigned Monday in Lawrence District Court.