WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Detectives arrested seven people accused of operating illegal massage parlors in several cities, including Winston-Salem and Greensboro.
Folks either live or have businesses nearby. People in the area said they knew something suspicious was going on because people were seen going inside the parlors at all hours of the night.
Bradley Miller lives on Thurston Street, right across the street from one of the Winston-Salem operations.
"We saw random guys coming through the middle of the night and they'd be open until about 4 a.m.," Miller said. "So, it was obvious at that point."
Miller said this isn't the first time deputies have shut down prostitution rings on his street.
He said the first one ran for about six months before police shut it down. The most recent he said took detectives a bit longer to crack down on.
"They would sit out here. My mom would say something to them," Miller said. "She talked to the officer that was sitting out here the first week they opened and they said they knew and they were trying to stop them."
Less than half a mile up the road on Mill Street was another illegal parlor. Mary Sargent lives across the street.
"There were a lot of cars coming in," Sargent said. "It said Rosie's Aroma Therapy and I noticed the only people that were going over there were guys."
Sargent said no one ever talked to her but she was afraid.
"I wanted them out of there because I didn't like all these strange men coming around. I live alone with my dogs," Sargent said. "You never know what kind of crowd they’re attracting over there."
Sargent said she was worried so she reached out to Crime Stoppers. Deputies were investigating and raided both Winston-Salem locations.
At the beginning of 2023, the Forsyth County Drug Task Force (FCDTF) said it began investigating complaints of illegal massage parlors operating out of Winston-Salem neighborhoods.
Detectives said two women - Li Huang, 49, and Chongmei Wei, 59 - owned the parlors in Winston-Salem. During further investigation, detectives said they found eight other parlors connected to Huang and Wei.
The parlors were found in the following cities:
- 2 in Winston-Salem (Mill Street and Thurston Street)
- 2 in Gastonia, NC
- 1 in Indian Trail, NC
- 1 in Charlotte, NC
- 1 in Greensboro, NC (Guilford College Road)
- 1 in Columbia, SC
- 2 in Rock Hill, SC
Huang and Wei were arrested and charged with promoting prostitution and continuing a criminal enterprise.
"Thank you because this is a friendly neighborhood and there are children down the street and most of us are retired here or up in age and this was really scary," Sargent said. "It was scary for me. I was relieved."
Detectives said five other people connected to the illegal parlors were arrested on various prostitution charges.
Other arrests included:
- Haiyan Chen, 52, charged with promoting prostitution
- Zuying Liu, 60, charged with solicitation of prostitution
- Liling Liang, 59, charged with promoting prostitution
- Quilan Shen, 57, charged with promoting prostitution
- Hsiang-Chai Lin, 56, charged with solicitation of prostitution
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