CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- Court documents are revealing new insights into the arrests over alleged illegal activity at six businesses in Chesterfield County.
Since February, Chesterfield Police arrested workers for illicit sex acts at six different massage businesses.
In fact, officers made arrests this week at Massage for You and International Spa off E. Hundred Road.
Then in March workers were arrested at Ocean Spa and Massage off Hull Street Road.
In February arrests happened at three other businesses: Golden Finger off Chester Road, Touch Point Massage off Chochtaw Road and Unique Foot Relaxing off Robious Road.
The charges spanned from prostitution, giving an illegal massage without a permit and staying in a place associated illicit activities.
"It's starting to get out of hand," Lt. Edward Pierpont with Chesterfield Police's Special Investigations Unit said. "We don’t want to restrict the legitimate businesses, but we want to make it harder for those committing the illegal activity."
The majority of people arrested in these cases have ties to Flushing, New York.
That area is known by New York Police to have massage businesses covering up for brothels and sex trafficking, according to CBS News.
CBS 6 also uncovered that the owner of Unique Foot and Relaxing had a spa with employees charged with selling sex in Syracuse, New York, in June 2023.
“It’s across the nation," Pierpont explained. “Chesterfield does not own the monopoly on the location for that."
Pierpont said the crackdown is coming from undercover investigations in conjunction with Virginia State Police and the FBI.
Detectives have been able to bring more charges because the county now requires a permit for all massage therapists, according to Pierpont.
However the law does not currently give officers the authority to stop them from reopening.
That is because the commonwealth’s attorney would have to petition a judge to close a business with evidence from multiple agencies.
“It’s a very lengthy process to do that and the judicial process," Pierpont explained. "Are you going to get a conviction?"
While officers said they haven’t gone through that process yet, they have tools "that can make it harder for them to continue in their businesses," Pierpont said.
Police are utilizing websites on the dark web to gather information about illegal activities taking place, according to warrants obtained by CBS 6.
“They do use those websites to pass information on to each other, 'Hey, go here,'" Pierpont explained. "As an agency, what I would say to them is we are watching. So you run that risk.”
Human trafficking is also something police look into during their investigations.
Pierpont said that in some instances employees willingly take part in illegal activities for money. But he said others do not realize that they have been trafficked.
“Some of the women are being brought into the United States and are here for the promise of good things. But someone had to pay the money for them to get here,” Pierpont said.
Now those victims are "caught in that trap," according to Pierpont.
"Some of them are being forced to do that labor," Pierpont said. "Some are being forced to do the illicit sexual acts because they hold family members and other things back home as retribution."
Investigators are actively looking into another 30 to 40 massage businesses in Chesterfield, Pierpont said.
If you have information that could help detectives, call Chesterfield County Police at 804-748-1251 or Crime Solvers at 804-748-0660.
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