Chinatown Massage Parlor Human Trafficking Ring Busted: DA

BOSTON — A Chinatown massage parlor is accused of offering more than just back massages, the District Attorney's office announced following a prostitution ring bust at four Boston-area massage parlors.

The owner of Rose Health Spa and three other massage parlors was arrested Wednesday in connection with operating a large-scale human trafficking operation in Boston and Greater Boston, the Middlesex County District Attorney's office announced.

Police arrested Dan T. Zheng, 47, at her Chinatown spa on Harrison Ave. yesterday. They then turned her over to Arlington police to be arraigned today in Cambridge District Court on charges of trafficking of persons for sexual servitude, deriving support from prostitution and procuring support for prostitution, according to the DA's office.

“The defendant in this case was allegedly using businesses in four communities as a front to provide illegal sexual services for a fee while exploiting the women who were employed by her in the process," said District Attorney Marian Ryan in a statement.

The Suffolk County District Attorney's office said after Zheng is arraigned in Cambridge, she'll face similar charges in Boston.

Six women workers identified as victims were found in the four spas, in Chinatown, Stoneham, Arlington and Dracut, the Middlesex DA's office said.

The bust comes after months of investigation.

In June, the FBI Boston Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation Task Force and Malden Police Detectives began watching the four massage parlors. Police said they learned that clients were being offered and accepting sexual services after scheduled massages for additional fees.

Investigators said Zheng was in charge of day-to-day operations of the massage parlors and that, as part of running the business, she scheduled appointments and transported employees from Boston to the massage parlors for work.

Zheng is also accused of paying the massage therapists a minimal fee and keeping the rest of the money for the services they performed.

Police also searched Zheng's apartment on Maple Place in Chinatown, around the corner from the Rose Health Spa.

“Motivated by profit, Ms. Zheng ran an extensive criminal operation taking advantage of the vulnerable young women who worked for her by selling them for sex,” said Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division. “Human trafficking is a crime that happens all around us, often in plain sight, impacting the safety of our neighborhoods and our quality of life. When human beings are treated as commodities, they are not only being abused physically, but emotionally and financially."

Photo by Jenna Fisher/Patch Staff