Aurora police are going after massage parlors for prostitution, which sometimes leads to larger investigations and the discovery of human trafficking rings.
Inside, they find non-compliant, illegitimate businesses and employees offering an undercover cop more than a massage. At one location, the door is locked, and the team has to force their way inside to ensure the safety of their undercover.
Sometimes there are clues and signs that may lead to human trafficking. Jeff Hahn of the Aurora Police Department. Acting Special Agent in Charge for Homeland Security Investigations Chicago Sean Fitzgerald says last year, federal agents arrested more than 2, people for human trafficking related charges, of them were convicted. They're not accomplices. They're victims," said Fitzgerald. The undercover went in for a massage while the team waited in squad cars nearby for a code word, which was their green light to approach.
They make entry quickly into one of the businesses, Apple Massage. The business has beds, sheets, lotions and oils, but also a full kitchen, stocked pantry and dinner in a crockpot — clues the workers may be living here. Inside Sun Massage, a seemingly legitimate business is doubling as an apartment. Finally, at Massage Lilly, police say an employee wouldn't come to the locked door to let them in.
All three masseuses were charged each with one misdemeanor count of prostitution. This raid did not turn up human trafficking charges, but they have in the past. Fitzgerald says sometimes during investigations victims themselves, become witnesses. Fitzgerald says HSI is a victim centric organization, and you can help. Of the three businesses mentioned in our story, two were shut down following the raids, but one reopened at a new location.
