INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) - Investigators conducted raids at central Indiana massage parlors Tuesday in connection with possible human trafficking.
The crackdown started before noon. Eyewitness News confirmed four of six locations, including massage parlors at 1381 N. Shadeland Ave., 4303 South East St. and in the 5200 block of Rockville Road, and on Smith Valley Road in Johnson County.
On Smith Valley Road, a building manager locked up the Orchid Spa after a police raid. On South East Street in Indianapolis, police carried out wads of money in a detergent container, plus other possible evidence in a human trafficking investigation.
"What's going on down there, A prostitution raid?" a worker at a neighboring business shouted to our news crew.
The Center Grove spa was one of seven places targeted by a federal, state, and local task force in the last two days, including two houses on the same street in Speedway. Another took place at 86th and Michigan, where an Animal Control sign says officers recovered turtles in the raid.
Police officers seized everything inside the businesses. Investigators say the furniture inside the parlors belongs to the man who is the target of their investigation. So far he has not been arrested.
At some of the locations, police say the women said they were not victims of human trafficking, but investigators are not convinced.
While Eyewitness News' crew was at the scene at the business on Shadeland Avenue, men were driving up, not knowing that the massage parlor had been shut down.
Once you're past the front door, the rest of the business is broken up into private rooms. During the surprise raid, both uniformed and undercover officers helped remove the furniture from those rooms. They loaded it into a box truck as part of the investigation.
Among the seized items were massage tables which came out of those private rooms.
People who live and work nearby have always suspected something shady was going on. Employees at a nearby restaurant believe it will be a lot safer for them now that the massage parlor is shutdown.
"We've seen the signs. Our neighbor next door told us that the police were there. We've never seen anyone go in or out. We had no idea and my children walk here from my house every day. So yes, it's really scary," said Gina Godwin, family restaurant worker.
At the location on South East Street, police also confiscated money found inside the massage parlor. Officers carried out boxes of evidence during the raid.
The surprise raids span across two counties.
At the Orchid Spa, there were no computers or telephones left at the front desk. A man who works at a nearby store said police "took everything. All of it."
Left behind at the spa were latex gloves, towels, lotions, soaps and other items you'd expect to find at a spa.
One person in the neighboring business said they were not surprised to see a police raid at the Orchid Spa. After the police left the scene, no one was there.
"There was just a lot of doors there. It was always dark, it had a lot of curtains so you couldn't see what was going on inside. So none of it was a surprise," said Kate Maurar, who runs a legitimate business just down from the Orchid Spa.
Maurar says the spa opened a few months ago and had few customers - and a largely male clientele. She and others were suspicious. When the landlord said the Orchid Spa was going to move right next to her business, she expanded into that space instead.
"It was very unsettling when they moved in. I don't think any of the tenants were too happy to see them go in. So we're glad to see them go," Maurar said.
We have not heard anything yet on possible charges stemming from today's raid. Police say if the owner of the spas attempts to reopen the businesses, the city attorney can go to court to keep them closed.
In a separate investigation, a Greenwood spa was the focus of an investigation Monday. Officers arrested 54-year-old Changli Su at Golden Spa near U.S. 31 and Main Street Monday afternoon. Last August, police arrested another woman at the same business. Investigators say in both cases, the accused tried to inappropriately touch undercover officers during a massage Police say the process is under way to revoke the spa's permits and close the operation down.
