The Hollywood Police Department, together with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), recently arrested more than 20 people in connection with solicitation of prostitution at Hollywood massage parlors.
The arrests span multiple locations and are a result of a five-month investigation by Hollywood Police and HSI into prostitution, human trafficking and illegal activity at sites throughout the city.
Undercover detectives from Hollywood’s Vice and Intelligence, Narcotics Unit and HSI found evidence that the women were performing sexual acts on customers in exchange for payment inside the massage parlors. The women face charges of prostitution, practicing without a license, and misrepresenting themselves as licensed massage therapists. Two women, Giselle Guo and Yan Zheng, also face bribery charges. According to police, Guo, owner of Lucky Spa at 7060 Taft St., and Zheng, owner of Hollywood Unisex at 2126 Hollywood Blvd., told an undercover detective that they needed help and would pay him to provide protection from law enforcement. The women allegedly agreed to pay $400 a month for officers to stay away from their two businesses, police say.
Investigators say they found items, including beds, clothes and food, that indicated some of the women were living inside the parlors.
The owner of Xhale Spas, 5808 Johnson St., voluntarily closed that business after the arrest. The location now houses a shoe store.
In an effort to address the proliferation of massage parlors opening in the City, the Commission in June 2015 enacted a measure requiring distance separations between massage parlors as well as new regulations requiring that all massage parlors prominently display the licensing credentials of all massage therapists.
“We will continue to crack down on these types of businesses which are used as fronts for prostitution,” Hollywood Police Chief Tomas Sanchez said. “These massage parlors breed other criminal activities, including human and sex trafficking, drug sales and money laundering,” he said.
Locations affected include:
- Bonita Spa, 5450 S. SR 7 Ste. 4
- Lucky Spa, 1637 S. 21st St.
- Best Asian Massage, 6700 Taft St.
- Ting Ting Spa, 6151 Washington St.
- Fantasy Spa, 2106 Tyler St.
- Asian Massage, 1943 Pembroke Road
- Casino Spa, 5408 S. SR 7
- Hollywood Asian Spa, 4622 Hollywood Blvd.
- Sunshine Oriental Massage, 4211 N. SR 7
- Relax Spa, 5892 Stirling Road
- Asian Hollywood Spa, 2814 Hollywood Blvd.
- Hollywood Unisex, 2126 Hollywood Blvd.
- Spa Latinas, 5104 S. SR 7
- Spa Latinas, 5102 S. SR 7
- Xhale Spas, 5808 Johnson St.
- New Life Massage, 5450 S. SR 7 Ste. 5
Those arrested include: Antonia Lugo De Tracy, 45; Yuehua Ou, 50; Rong Zhang, 39; Xiaojing Cao, 41; Zulima Alfaro, 23; Roulan Zhu, 45; Karina Bickers, 44; Shannon Holder, 25; Yanet Hernandez Garcia, 39; Landing Qiao, 53; Yimei Wang, 56; Elena Conza Romero, 43; Shen Xiufeng, 44; Derong Liu, 54; Linghuan Sun, 46; Johanna Acevedo, 27; Marisol Mehia Rijo, 33; Ochoa Dominguez, 35; Nazeke Dynbayaeva, 22; Amantina Batista, 48; Giselle Guo, 44; Gengxiu Zhang, 34; and Yan Zheng, 47.
