MCU busts second massage parlor - Lancaster Eagle Gazette

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Major Crimes Unit detectives secure seized items from a Jin's Wellness Center Thursday, May 11, 2017, at the corner of Cedar Hill Road and Lincoln Avenue in Lancaster. MCU and Lancaster police raided the business on suspicion of being a front for prostitution. One person was arrested.(Photo: Matthew Berry/Eagle-Gazette)Buy Photo


LANCASTER - The Major Crimes Unit raided another Lancaster massage parlor suspected of prostitution after a six-month investigation on Thursday.

Jin's Wellness Center, 103 Cedar Hill Road, was shut down just before noon on Thursday with one woman taken into custody. MCU Commander Dennis Lowe said the woman was taken to the Fairfield County Jail and will face charges later. An online search of the Cedar Hill Road business shows it is also known as "Asian Massage and Thai Back-Walking."

"This was more than just your normal therapeutic massage parlor," Lowe said, adding that cash was being exchanged for sex acts.

In the six months MCU investigated Jin's Wellness Center, Lowe said no women received massage services. Lowe said one woman attempted to set up an appointment and was not able to.

This is the second raid of a massage parlor in the past week. MCU executed a search warrant at a Forest Rose Avenue massage business on May 4 and found one female worker there. She was not arrested and Lowe said they determined she was in the country legally.

The difference between this operation and the massage parlor busted last week on Forest Rose Avenue is Lowe believes the woman arrested Thursday is part-owner or owner of the business.

It's unclear at this point if the businesses are connected. Lowe said the Forest Rose business opened first, followed by the Cedar Hill Road location.

"This is a new thing here in Lancaster we had not seen this before," Lowe said. "I suspect after one opened, they saw a market for this."

At both locations, women were living at the parlor. Lowe declined to comment if either parlor is involved in human trafficking. The investigation is ongoing, he said.

sremoquill@lancastereaglegazette.com

740-681-4342

Twitter: @SpencerRemo

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