Customers of two West Monroe massage parlors engaged in acts which were the result of sex trafficking according to records filed with the 4th Judicial District Court in Ouachita Parish. Both locations allegedly employed Asian women who are the victims of sex trafficking.
Police say evidence of illegal activity has been gathered through multiple witness accounts, surveillance, and undercover officer massage purchases. The following information was gleaned from documents filed in court. According to the court documents, women are being trafficked from South Korea, China, and Thailand to the U. To pay the debt, those same women are then forced into working at illicit massage parlors, sexually pleasuring customers over the span of a year.
According to the detective investigating the case, the women were forced to work hour shifts, 7 days a week. The detective indicated that some of the employees weren't even compensated for their work since they are still paying off a debt.
All the while, the women are required to stay at a specific residence or at the massage parlor. After the year is up, the detective noted, employees are typically released. In the case of Shangri-La Spa, the employees were forced to live at the business and were only allowed to leave to get groceries.
In the case of China Massage and Spa, the employees were all living in one small apartment on Parkwest Drive, although the detective notes that some were possibly living at the business.
