TONTITOWN, Ark. — Spanish version: Para español haga clic aqui.
A Tontitown massage parlor called "F Massage" was raided on Feb. 9, in what police say was a months-long investigation into suspicious activity.
Keith Lindley, a detective with the Tontitown Police Department (TPD), said police got a complaint on Nov. 3, 2023, that a new spa in town offered sexual services.
Lindley says that since the complaint, police have been investigating the spa, located on 620 West Henri De Tonti Boulevard.
Lindley said police received a search warrant and executed it at around 2:30 p.m. on Feb. 9. The search yielded evidence corroborating the tip. He said the evidence connects the operation to others in the area.
Yanling Tang, 62, was arrested and booked into the Washington County Jail for promoting prostitution in the second degree. She was held on a $10,000 bond and was released on Feb. 12. Tang is set to appear in court on March 4.
According to police, Tang had a California identification and has been in Arkansas for one month.
In addition to the one arrest, others are anticipated, Lindley said. He said everyone they've found is connected to or links back to China. Lindley says through surveillance video they have two additional suspects in the case one female, one male.
"We know that she was a day-to-day active employee who was working there. The man has been identified as 'the boss,' and our surveillance has shown that he has been seen leaving that location and traveling directly to another spa location in Springdale, getting out of the vehicle and carrying money bags inside. So, we know that there's probably a hierarchy within this community of spas that are all inner related," Lindley said.
Lindley said that police have financial records and documents to show that Tang has been "very well compensated financially for at least thousands of dollars."
Additionally, he says that the hierarchy of the organization is "tied to an illicit foundation overseas."
Lindley said police are investigating possible links to human trafficking, and that the department is in contact with federal agencies regarding the case.
"We know that it's super common for those people to be doing that against their will. This type of work that we're talking about, if someone's doing that against their will and being taken advantage of in that way, that's the very definition of being human trafficking," Lindley said. "If you're forced into labor against your will that's not work."
Lindley says that, if there are human trafficking victims involved, they want to ensure that they are treated fairly.
"We're going to do everything we can to either identify the employees there as suspects or victims," Lindley said. "I don't want anyone to think that we're just out to arrest sex workers without taking into consideration that they themselves could absolutely be victims."
"If we learn that some of these folks that were engaged in these behaviors and these actions and doing this kind of work, if they're doing that against their will, we're going to handle that with all the respect and due diligence that's required to ensure that they receive the proper care and treatment as victims and not suspects," Lindley added.
A probable cause affidavit said that the Nov. 3 complaint came from a customer of the spa who claimed that he visited on Oct. 29, 2023, and paid for a "normal" massage. A few days later, the individual returned but claimed the woman administering the massage got on the table and touched his genitals.
The man told police that the spa only accepted cash and he believes he was offered sexual contact during both visits.
TPD conducted several hours of surveillance in the days following the complaint and observed that employees were driven to and from the business by drivers in cars with California license plates, according to the affidavit. Police also observed at least one customer covering their face when entering and exiting the building.
Lindley told 5NEWS that the TPD raid was an expected outcome just weeks into the investigation.
"A couple weeks into the investigation we knew that this would likely come to a conclusion this way. It became pretty apparent that the allegations that we had initially received were corroborated," Lindley said. "We continue to find evidence to support the fact that we could tell with a high degree of certainty that there was a building, that was a business, within the city limits of Tontitown, where people engaged in sexual acts in exchange for money."
Lindley says that TPD believes the spa was connected to a larger network of businesses conducting similar behavior.
"There's always an end game here. This money is going somewhere. These places are almost operating like a franchise location. You've got a private independent owner, and there's another one right down the road, another private independent owner, but they're connected under the umbrella of one ownership. There is someone somewhere calling the shots and is receiving the most benefit upon the labor of other people," Lindley said.
Lindley said police believe that the network sprawls throughout Northwest Arkansas and even into other states.
"I can tell you with a very high degree of certainty that the location that we encountered today is directly linked to a similar business in Springdale, Bentonville, and Rogers," Lindley said. "We found evidence that it goes well beyond that into surrounding states as well."
Lindley says that they're not going to stop investigating, and that they're going to continue wherever their investigation leads them, even saying that more arrests are on the way.
"[We're] expecting one, I would anticipate two more individuals that are currently in the area that are potentially facing various charges," Lindley said.
"Anyone that might think that this is not a sophisticated network would be wrong. It is incredibly sophisticated and incredibly guarded. They are very good and well-practiced in running these types of businesses," Lindley added. To actually find the real and true identity of the people that are in charge and calling the shots is proving to be a little bit challenging. We feel like that we've got a very good understanding of who these people are at least on the local level, but there are still some challenges there."
Jenny Sorey, a spokesperson for a local nonprofit that works to combat human trafficking, spoke to 5NEWS about how to recognize the possible signs.
"If you come across someone who seems to be controlled by someone else, their actions, their movement, perhaps they don't have their own identification or means of paying for things on their own," Sorey said. "Also, branding and markers, a lot of times victims of trafficking will be tattooed or branded with a symbol that represents their trafficker."
Tontitown police are currently in the process of revoking the business license for the spa.
Watch 5NEWS on YouTube.
Download the 5NEWS app on your smartphone:
Stream 5NEWS 24/7 on the 5+ app: How to watch the 5+ app on your streaming device
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email KFSMDigitalTeam@tegna.com and detail which story you're referring to.