For nearly a decade, a husband-and-wife team operated a network of massage businesses stretching across New Jersey and New York. These seemingly innocent storefronts concealed brothels where women were expected to provide sexual services to customers from morning until midnight.
The case, which ended in guilty pleas in late May, offers a glimpse into a little-known corner of the commercial sex trade: the illicit massage business.
The prosecution also comes as the Justice Department signaled it intends to continue making human trafficking a priority under the Trump administration. Earlier this month, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appointed veteran federal prosecutor Ali Serano to lead the department’s anti-human trafficking efforts.
“Ending human trafficking and the exploitation of children has been and remains one of the highest priorities of the Department of Justice,” Blanche said in announcing her appointment. “With [the] appointment of Ali Serano, we are sending a clear and unmistakable message to predators: we are coming for you.”
What is the illicit massage business?
Illicit massage businesses, or IMBs, operate under the appearance of legitimate massage parlors or spas while secretly selling sex. Although they often appear to be independent storefront businesses, anti-trafficking advocates say many are connected through larger criminal networks that recruit vulnerable women, frequently foreign nationals, and move them between locations to keep a constant rotation of workers.
There are between 7,500 and 9,000 illicit massage businesses operating across the United States, according to estimates from the Polaris Project and the DOJ. Many involve elements of labor trafficking, sex trafficking, or both, with workers controlled through debt bondage, deception, threats, or intimidation.
Court records from the New Jersey case illustrate how the businesses operate.
According to prosecutors, women lived inside the spas and worked approximately 16-hour days, seven days a week. Customers paid between $160 and $175 for sexual services, and some locations even offered loyalty cards that rewarded repeat customers with free visits. Business records showed some women serviced as many as 20 customers in a single day.
As one of the conspiracy’s leaders, Hee Choi admitted recruiting women to work in the spas, advertising sexual services online, scheduling appointments, and directing other members of the operation. Her husband, Yong Piao, admitted to delivering groceries, condoms, medications, and other supplies to the businesses while transporting cash proceeds and business records. Investigators recovered approximately $1.2 million in cash, along with luxury watches, jewelry, and designer handbags, all of which the pair agreed to forfeit.
Both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit interstate travel and use of facilities in aid of a racketeering enterprise.
A difficult crime to investigate
Serano, who previously prosecuted human trafficking cases in California before her appointment, said illicit massage businesses present unique investigative challenges because they often appear to be ordinary businesses.
“Massage parlors … cross over two major areas of trafficking, sex trafficking and labor trafficking,” Serano told the Washington Examiner. “It is something that’s very hard to detect.”
Unlike street prostitution, she said, massage businesses often operate behind closed doors in commercial storefronts, making it difficult for law enforcement to identify victims or gather evidence.
“It’s hard to infiltrate as law enforcement,” she said. “Customers aren’t going to say anything. Owners or landlords aren’t going to say anything because they’re making money.”
Victims themselves also frequently hesitate to cooperate, she said, often because they fear deportation, face language barriers, or worry traffickers will retaliate against family members overseas.
“If they’re not aware of their rights, or their fear of deportation, or maybe their family is going to be harmed if they say something, those are all reasons why it’s very difficult to detect and prosecute,” Serano said.
Even after charges are filed, trafficking investigations often take years to resolve, making it difficult to keep survivors engaged throughout lengthy prosecutions.
Serano said one of the most effective ways to dismantle trafficking organizations is to attack their finances.
“People engage in trafficking … for money,” she said. “If there’s no money in it, eventually it’ll dry up and go away.”
That requires investigators to do more than identify traffickers and rescue survivors. Financial investigators from agencies such as the IRS and U.S. Treasury often play a key role in tracing profits, freezing assets, and securing restitution for victims.
“Despite the difficulties in handling these cases, our investigators and prosecutors have the knowledge, training, and experience to overcome these challenges,” the veteran prosecutor said. “We will continue to work tirelessly to bring the traffickers to justice, as we have been doing.”
The New Jersey case reflected that strategy, with prosecutors seizing roughly $1.2 million in cash and numerous luxury items tied to the operation.
Serano said successful prosecutions also depend on close cooperation between federal, state, and local agencies.
“Everybody brings something to the table,” she said. “Your local cops know where this stuff is happening. The feds bring resources, expertise, and financial investigators. Bringing the best of what everybody has together is a great way to do these cases.”
AI DEEPFAKE ADS INVADE MIDTERM ELECTION CAMPAIGNS
While DOJ has prosecuted trafficking cases under multiple administrations, Serano said the department’s focus extends well beyond any single industry. Instead, she said, the department is prioritizing crimes involving children and other vulnerable victims, including labor trafficking, sex trafficking, child sexual abuse material, and migrant exploitation.
“Anything dealing with children or vulnerable victims is a priority,” Serano said.