WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (WFLA) — Twenty-one women from 12 different Asian massage parlors were arrested for prostitution-related offenses, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said.
Undercover detectives with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office Vice Unit conducted a two-day operation that began on Monday, Nov. 4.
According to PCSO, undercover detectives went to numerous massage parlors in Davenport, Dundee, Lakeland, and Winter Haven to purchase lawful massages from licensed massage therapists.
During the sessions, 20 of the individuals offered to commit sexual acts for money.
Polk County Sheriff’s Office said one suspect, Jinxia Huang, hit the undercover detective when he denied her advances.
“We want our communities to be safe and free from illegal activities, and criminals who take advantage of people. These arrests are part of our ongoing efforts to hold those who break the law accountable. We’re focused on keeping our neighborhoods safe, and we’ll keep cracking down on businesses that operate outside the law,” Sheriff Grady Judd said.
According to PCSO, Xiu Lin was arrested outside of the parlor for resisting arrest due to interfering while another detective placed another individual under arrest for prostitution.
The suspects were arrested at the following locations:
- Xi Xi Spa, 7554 Cypress Gardens Boulevard
- New Coast Spa, 28079 U.S. Hwy 27
- Queen Day Spa, 1947 21st Street Northwest
- Health Asian Massage, 1222 6th Street Northwest
- Shangrila Massage, 1134 1st Street South
- New Oriental Massage, 6000 Lucerne Park Road
- Top Oasis Spa. 1975 East Edgewood Drive
- I-Spa Massage, 1114 Mayflower Drive
- Ocean Massage Star, 127 Alamo Drive East
- Lucky Asian Massage, 3234 South Florida Avenue
- Eastern Massage, 105 Allamanda Drive
- Sun Spa, 110 Polo Park East
Two of the women, Rose Wang Walker and Baohua Zhang, told detectives they owned their establishments.
News Channel 8 asked the sheriff about who owns the parlors.
“That’s under investigation as well and we’re not releasing everything that we know in this point in time in the investigation but when they say they own the spa, that even puts them in a more precarious position,” said Sheriff Judd.
The sheriff said all the women were here legally from China. A few were American citizens and most were in the country on work visas.
Sheriff Judd said he would like to see their visas revoked due to their arrests.
“We believe they’re on a circuit. We believe they either individually, on their own move from area to area as the heat turns up on them or maybe there’s a more organized structure,” said Sheriff Judd.
According to a report by the Polaris Project, there are more than 9,000 of these illicit massage parlors in the country.
Many of the workers are victims of human trafficking.
“We audit these massage parlors to make sure they comply with the law but that is a secondary concern. None of these talked about human trafficking,” said Sheriff Judd.
The sheriff said it remains under investigation.
Anyone with information about illegal activities is asked to call Heartland Crime Stoppers at 1-888-400-TIPS (8477) or visit their website.
