Des Moines police have arrested four people at massage parlors in Beaverdale after complaints from residents concerned about human trafficking and prostitution.
But city leaders are still uncertain about how to best stamp out any illicit activity when police have gathered no evidence of prostitution.
"We sent some of the best undercover people we got, but it's like they have a sixth sense," Councilman Bill Gray said. "They've got this practice down to a science."
Among those jailed Monday on suspicion of violating state massage licensing laws were Fenghua Huai, 37, and Li Xin Ma, 44. The two worked at Green Spa at 4212 Douglas Ave. and lived at the same address on East 13th Street in Des Moines.
On March 17, Chang Cheng, 48, and Dan Gad, 46, two women who live at the same address in West Des Moines, were arrested at Paradise Spa, 4921 Douglas Ave., for allegedly violating licensing laws.
Cheng failed to make an initial court appearance March 30, and a warrant was issued for her arrest.
Both spas were mentioned in a Watchdog probe last November about a surge in parlors opening across Iowa. More than two dozen of the businesses have sprouted in or near the Des Moines metro, advertising on Craigslist and Backpage.com.
Des Moines was identified by a national anti-human trafficking organization in January as one of the country's top 100 sites for suspected massage-related trafficking. Washington, D.C.-based Polaris began a national initiative to crack down on the illicit massage businesses.
Iowa's capital city was one of the top 100 locales listed on paid online sites where customers review sex workers.
Several of the businesses continue to advertise massage locally, with suggestive photos and text on Backpage, though the site's adult advertising was abruptly removed in January with the word "censored."
That was after the site's co-founders and chief executive, who profited on ads for body rubs, massage and exotic dancers, were charged with pimping and money laundering in California.
They've also been at the center of a U.S. Senate investigation and federal grand jury inquiry in Arizona.
Gray says he's talked about the rise in massage parlors locally with Des Moines policevice officers and the city's legal department. He'smulled the idea of pursuing the problem as a zoning issue.
The city of Urbandale, for example, does not allow businesses that offer massages exclusively — without other spa services — to operate within the city.
Licensed massage therapists have voiced concerns they will be pushed out of the city by those engaged in unlicensed, illegal massage or sex work.
Gray and City Councilman Chris Coleman have heard from residents worried about the women seen moving from business to business in Des Moines.
Neighbors have told Watchdog they almost never see female customers entering the businesses, and men come and go mostly at night.
Many local ads have featured young Asian women, some scantily clad. But most of those arrested around central Iowahave been older, charged with prostitution or license violations.
Police have made arrests for prostitution or unlicensed massages in Ames, Johnston, Marion, Mason City, the Quad Cities, Sioux City, Urbandale and West Des Moines, the November probe found.
Kellie Markey, founder of Dorothy's House, a Des Moines rehabilitation facility for women and girls, said human trafficking of women who work at massage parlors happens in every corner of the state.
But until March, Des Moines had made no recent arrests at parlors.
Sgt. Paul Parizek said narcotics officers did not solicit sex before making those arrests.
"Our officers do not guide these investigations," he said. "They follow the evidence and leads that are presented to them," he said.
Iowa's Board of Massage can take licensing action, but it has no authority to enforce when allegations of illicit activity arise.
As a result, board members have said curbing illicit massage must be a law enforcement issue, and board members make referrals to authorities when they hear complaints.
But investigating the businesses can be difficult.
During the Watchdog probe in November, Huai identified herself as the owner of Lotus Spa in the Beaverdale Place strip mall and Green Massage and said both businesses were legitimate.
But when she showed up at a December Iowa Board of Massage Therapy meeting to discuss complaints about Lotus Spa, she identified herself on a sign-in sheet as Fung Fa Wai.Her lawyer told board members no evidence had been presented to support concerns about illegal activity.
Neither Feng Huai or Fung Fa Wai were listed as licensed massage therapists in Iowa then, according to Tony Alden, board executive at the Department of Public Health's Bureau of Professional Licensure.
The same woman was arrested Monday as Fenghua Huai at Green Spa.The massage board said it now has a massage license application pending for Feng Hua Huai, though its not clear if that is the same woman.
None of the others arrested had massage licenses.
Iowa has some of the best laws in the country to combat sex trafficking.
Those convicted of buying or selling another person, including "johns" who patronize massage parlors for sex, must do mandatory jail time.
But Markey has said police have difficulty believing women at local businesses could be part of an organized network. The underground nature of illicit parlors and their mobility make the industry hard to curtail.
State nuisance law allows county attorneys and citizens to take civil action against nuisance businesses and the owners of the buildings in which they exist. Cities and counties often also have their own nuisance laws.
Other cities have tried to require permits of the businesses.
Councilman Coleman, who represents the Beaverdale area, said he's pleased that police pursued complaints.
"We need to continue enforcement and show residents we're serious about it," he said. "Every time we turn over another stone on this, we see different things that give me evidence of a shady operation. … Hopefully, if the customers erode, the businesses will go away."
But Coleman said he also isthinking about whether permitting or zoning changes need to be made.
"I think we would need to be specific about behaviors we would like to see," he said of permits."We could, for example, zone in ways that control their hours of operations."
Coleman said the city is in the midst of overhauling the city's zoning code, which the council should be reviewing by summer.
Lee Rood's Reader's Watchdog column helps Iowans get answers and accountability from public officials, the justice system, businesses and nonprofits. Contact her at lrood@dmreg.com, 515-284-8549 on Twitter @leerood or at Facebook.com /readerswatchdog.
