“How many human-trafficking victims work in NC massage parlors? More than you may think.” - The News & Observer
Published: July 15, 2019Experts say massage parlors where labor and sex trafficking occur are operating in plain sight in North Carolina and across the U.S. They're in strip malls, near police stations and schools, and present unique challenges to law enforcement.
Tucked between a busy cafe and a salon full of friendly chatter and the smell of hairspray, the strip-mall storefront sits empty now. Last month, it housed Neon Moon Spa, a massage parlor where patrons in the know could find a massage and sometimes more. Men slipped into the cash-only business off South Miami Boulevard with $70 for an hour-long massage and a $40 tip for a “happy ending.”
A long hall remains lit in the vacated Neon Moon Spa, an illicit massage business, tucked away in a busy Durham strip mall. The Durham County SheriffÕs Office recently charged the manager, Lian Jin Xu, with promoting prostitution and released the three employees who are believed to be human-trafficking victims. A long hall remains lit in the vacated Neon Moon Spa, an illicit massage business, tucked away in a busy Durham strip mall. The Durham County SheriffÕs Office recently charged the manager, Lian Jin Xu, with promoting prostitution and released the three employees who are believed to be human-trafficking victims.
The three women giving the massages rarely left the building. They worked nearly 12-hour days and slept on the same beds their customers used during the day. They stored their food and few belongings on plastic shelves in the back of the business. The office suite didn’t have a kitchen, so the women propped open the rear door each morning to cook breakfast. The women kept only the tips their customers gave them, hoping to have something at the end of the month to send home to their parents or children, after they had paid off part of their enormous debts.
After a yearlong investigation the Durham County Sheriff’s Office charged the manager, Lian Jin Xu, in April with promoting prostitution. According to the Durham District Attorney’s office, Xu is in custody on a $750,000 bond. The sheriff’s department is still looking for Quan Chun Li, 56, and Kwang Koo, 65, who also have been charged in the case. According to the warrants, Li was listed the owner of Neon Moon and is a known Chinese mafia associate who brings women to North Carolina from New York. Li was arrested and indicted for promoting prostitution in another massage parlor in Apex in 2016. That case is still pending. Nancy Hagan of Project No Rest, a grant funded effort based at the School of Social Work at UNC-CH, accompanied law-enforcement officers when they went in to Neon Moon. She tried to help the women inside, whose first languages were Korean and Mandarin, with a video in Mandarin, but they turned down most of the aid she offered them.
Email: shelbi.e.polk@gmail.com
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