Owner of Tuscaloosa Area Massage Parlors Arrested, 9 Women Found

A lengthy human trafficking investigation led to three raids, one arrest and the discovery of nine immigrants living in Tuscaloosa area massage parlors on Thursday, area police report.

Stephanie Taylor, a spokesperson for the Tuscaloosa Police Department, and Captain Phil Simpson of the West Alabama Human Trafficking Task Force provided details about the operation after its conclusion on Thursday.

They said the investigation has been ongoing for about a year and a half after customers of three local massage parlors reported that they were offered sexual services at a trio of spas, all of which are reportedly owned by 70-year-old Jianping Chen.

“These are blatant prostitution services being offered out in the open,” Task Force commander Capt. Phil Simpson said. “This is what we’re trying to prevent. These people are being victimized every single time someone goes in there for a massage.”

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In a Thursday afternoon update, WAHTTF said Chen owns Apple Massage Spa at 505 Hargrove Road, TuiNa Massage at 2001 Skyland Boulevard East, and Eastern Massage at 3120 McFarland Boulevard in Northport.

After extensive surveillance and investigation, law enforcement officers conducted searches during raids on all three locations Thursday morning. Several Chinese immigrants were allegedly being housed in the businesses.

"HSI linguists who speak Mandarin are speaking with nine women who were living in the businesses Thursday afternoon," Simpson said. “We are trying to determine who is a victim of human trafficking, and who is not.”

TPD said all the workers are adults, and all are immigrants - they are not yet sure if the women are here legally or are undocumented.

Chen, 70, was arrested and charged with four counts of second-degree promoting prostitution, a Class C felony. Police were not able to immediately release his mugshot on Thursday because of laws governing how information connected to human trafficking is release.

"Assisting agencies include Homeland Security Investigations, revenue, code enforcement, and building inspection departments from Tuscaloosa and Northport, both city fire marshals, the Tuscaloosa County Health Department, Hoover PD, and the Institute of Data and Analytics at the University of Alabama," TPD said. "Counselors with Trafficking Hope, a nonprofit that partners with law enforcement to provide services for human trafficking survivors, are accompanying officers on scene."

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