Massage parlors raided in National City, officials enact moratorium - The San Diego...

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National City enacted an emergency moratorium this month to prevent new massage parlors from opening in the city.

Assistant City Attorney Nicole Pedone said the 45-day suspension gives the city time to update the laws that regulate massage parlors so they comply with state rules.

The National City Police Department found evidence of prostitution at three businesses during recent raids. And at least six massage parlors were operating without proper permits or business licenses, according to a staff report.

City codes for massage parlors fall under “police regulated businesses” with the focus of protecting citizen public heath, safety and welfare.


Pedone said the state has flip-flopped between giving and taking away local regulatory control of massage parlors since 2009, when it enacted the Massage Therapy Act, which governs the massage industry.

Amendments were made in 2014, 2016 and as recently as January.

Some of the changes include:

• Who receives a license to practice massage
• Requirements regarding criminal background checks
• Whether it’s defined as an adult-oriented or adult entertainment business

Bianca Morales-Egan, who works with Project Concern International, said many illegal massage parlors are fronts for human trafficking.

She said having appropriate ordinances in place “is crucial in reducing the number of victims who are out there.”

Marisa Ugarte, of the Bilateral Safety Corridor Coalition, that in the past two years, her organization has taken in five Chinese victims into its shelter.

“We need to come together to consider all the ways of addressing the different parts of this dragon,” she told National City council members.

Both women addressed the City Council on March 7, the day the moratorium was enacted.


The emergency measure followed the Feb. 21 raids, conducted after lengthy investigations into prostitution and sex trafficking.

Part of the investigation involved Backpage.com, which advertises prostitution at specific businesses and addresses.

National City police Cpl. Colleen Stanich said that arrests for prostitution were made at three of the four massage businesses that were raided, and code, building and fire violations were also found. They include:

• Adele SPA at 916 E. Eighth St.

• Golden Massage & Spa at 2240 E. Plaza Blvd.

• Mayfower Massage at 1615 E. Plaza Blvd.

All three businesses are now closed.

Seven women were arrested and one was rescued as a sex trafficking victim.

The female victim, who is in her 40s, told authorities she’d been brought to the U.S. from China to work off a debt.

The other six women, ranging in age from 30 to 50, also are from China but here legally on work visas, Stanich said. They were cited for misdemeanor prostitution or conspiracy, then released.

Undercover cops had been setting up stings at National City massage parlors for the past two years, arresting workers for prostitution, according to law enforcement agencies.

“The owners would just get another girl. It wasn’t doing any good,” Stanich said.

Stanich, who worked on human trafficking cases for nine years, said National City began seeing a jump in requests for business licenses for massage parlors in the past few years.

She said the uptick followed a major crackdown at similar businesses in Los Angeles, where National City saw a jump in requests for business licenses from some of the same owners who left LA.


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