LBPD busts two illegal massage parlors

Investigation at Park Avenue "spas" leads to four arrests

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Long Beach police busted two illegal massage parlors on Wednesday that they said were offering more than just back rubs, and arrested four women on prostitution and unlicensed massage charges.

Long Beach detectives and the Nassau County Police Department's Narcotics/Vice Bureau conducted a joint investigation into two massage locations in the city, both located on Park Avenue, that police said offered sex to clients.

The month-long investigation began after police said the massage parlors, which were not licensed, had advertised their services on signs placed in windows and on backpage.com, a website for classified ads, promoting "young fresh Asian hotties" and "charming and stunning Asian bodywork."

Police Commissioner Michael Tangney said that police also received complaints from neighboring businesses about suspected illegal activity in the buildings.

"This was a great example of community policing, where the community got a sense that something was wrong due to the high level of traffic of patrons, and they notified us about their suspicions and we started an investigation that led to two places being closed down," Tangney said. "They are in professional buildings and that gave a certain legitimacy to the operation but again, people paying attention and seeing something and saying something was crucial to unraveling this crime."

Undercover detectives posing as customers visited the locations, where they were offered massages. Three of the defendents offered to "manually stimulate" the officers for an undisclosed amount of money during the undercover operation, police said.

One massage parlor operated above a sushi restaurant, in room 204 at 116 E. Park Ave., in a building near Riverside Boulevard and across the street from the Post Office that advertised as a health spa, police said. Police arrested 38-year-old Daxia Wu and 41-year-old Kai Me Yang, both of Flushing, Queens, on prostitution and unauthorized practice of a massage charges.

Two additional arrests were made at 58 W. Park Ave., a building along a stretch of businesses across the street from Kennedy Plaza and the Long Island Rail Road station that's home to an eye doctor and other professional services. That massage parlor advertised as "Long Beach Spa."

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