91³Ô¹ÏÍø

Watch CBS News
Local News

Mayor declares "war on human trafficking" after 2 Methuen spas shut down

By
Penny Kmitt
Penny Kmitt
Penny Kmitt
Penny Kmitt is a reporter for WBZ-TV's morning news. She joined the station in December 2023 from CBS-affiliate WTKR in Norfolk, Virginia.
Read Full Bio
Penny Kmitt,
Paul Burton
Paul Burton
Paul Burton is a general assignment reporter for WBZ-TV News.
Read Full Bio
Paul Burton

/ CBS Boston

The mayor of Methuen, Massachusetts is "declaring a war on human trafficking" after the city shut down two spas. 

Police arrested the Beauty Garden Spa's manager, Suping Zhu, 38, in New York after a neighbor reported suspicious activity at the business. 

Mayor D. J. Beauregard said he will create a human trafficking task force after Police Chief Scott McNamara said that there are similar operations happening in the city.

"We believe it's happening now," McNamara said. "We want them to know that we are coming for them next."

"We will work together to identify traffickers, shutter illegal businesses that profit from this evil, and hold landlords accountable if they harbor and profit from such activities," Beauregard said in a statement on Monday.

Beauregard told reporters that there is a zero-tolerance policy for anyone operating or soliciting services from places like Beauty Garden Spa. 

"We are declaring a war on human trafficking in the city of Methuen," Mayor Beauregard said.

McNamara said that they are currently looking at the building's landlord and are searching for a suspected co-manager, 36-year-old Yi Yu Huang, who lives in Brooklyn, New York. As of right now, no patrons of the spa have been charged, but police said they had interviewed some who admitted to paying for sexual acts.

Zhu has been charged with prostitution, keeper of a house of ill fame, and trafficking a person for sexual servitude. She was arraigned in Lawrence District Court on Monday. She is being held on $25,000 cash bail and was ordered not to contact the victims or witnesses. She also has to surrender her passport. She will be back in court on October 24. 

Another alleged Methuen trafficking front shut down

Eastern Bodywork Therapy on Hampshire Street in Methuen was shut down for alleged human trafficking activities, Beauregard announced. 

He said that the city had received a complaint about the business and sent an investigator. 

"The site was being used as an unlicensed bodywork establishment. Evidence of unlawful habitation and other materials consistent with criminal activity were found in plain view," a press release said.  

The shutdown of Eastern Bodywork Therapy comes less than 24 hours after Beauty Garden Spa. No arrests have been announced in connection with this shutdown. 

Woman helps police shut down spa

Beth Foote lives close to Beauty Garden Spa and began reporting what was going on at the business after noticing women getting dropped off with suitcases.

"We saw them coming in and out every month, every two months, every couple of weeks," Foote said. She said that she never saw anyone sitting outside the spa on break.

"You saw people bringing food supplies in, and I mean it was pretty blatant," Foote said.

McNamara said it was thanks to reports and photos from Foote that they were able to send in an undercover officer. While inside the spa, he was solicited for services, which helped police get a warrant. 

Once inside, they found two women who were living in the building's basement. McNamara said that reports indicated that the women were working 12 hours a day, seven days a week, under "the most exploitative conditions."

Police said that they found phones, computers, credit cards, cash and records inside the business. They also interviewed two women while working there. 

In:

© 2025 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
const link = doc.createElement('link'); link.rel = 'stylesheet'; link.href = '/fly/fly/bundles/cbsnewscontent/css/cmp-banner.min.css?v=296763317a51cab90faa73f1bb146d5c'; doc.head.appendChild(link); doc.body.innerHTML = CONSENT_MESSAGE; } else { el.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', CONSENT_MESSAGE); } }); } function hidePrivacyMessage() { // Remove from the main document document.querySelectorAll(`.${CONSENT_MESSAGE_CLASS}`).forEach(el => el.remove()); // Remove from inside any iframes document.querySelectorAll('iframe').forEach(iframe => { const doc = iframe.contentDocument || iframe.contentWindow.document; doc.querySelectorAll(`.${CONSENT_MESSAGE_CLASS}`).forEach(el => el.remove()); }); } function activateGatedScripts() { // Handle both new format (cmp-gated-script) and old OneTrust/Ketch format (optanon-category-4) const gatedScripts = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('script.cmp-gated-script, script.optanon-category-4')); // Activate scripts sequentially with a small delay to avoid timing issues let delay = 0; gatedScripts.forEach(function(placeholder, index) { setTimeout(function() { // Skip if already processed if (placeholder.hasAttribute('data-cmp-processed')) { return; } placeholder.setAttribute('data-cmp-processed', 'true'); const newScript = document.createElement('script'); newScript.type = 'text/javascript'; // Try new format first (data-cmp-src), then fall back to old format (data-src) const src = placeholder.getAttribute('data-cmp-src') || placeholder.getAttribute('data-src'); if (src) { newScript.src = src; } else if (placeholder.textContent) { // Inline script - just copy the content newScript.textContent = placeholder.textContent; } // Handle new format attributes (data-cmp-attrs) - for both inline and external scripts const attrs = placeholder.getAttribute('data-cmp-attrs'); if (attrs) { const tempDiv = document.createElement('div'); tempDiv.innerHTML = '
<\/div>'; const tempAttrs = tempDiv.firstChild.attributes; for (let i = 0; i < tempAttrs.length; i++) { // For external scripts, allow defer/async. For inline scripts, skip them (not valid) if (src || (tempAttrs[i].name !== 'async' && tempAttrs[i].name !== 'defer')) { newScript.setAttribute(tempAttrs[i].name, tempAttrs[i].value); } } } // Copy other attributes from old OneTrust format for (let i = 0; i < placeholder.attributes.length; i++) { const attr = placeholder.attributes[i]; // Skip attributes we've already handled or don't want to copy if (!['class', 'data-src', 'data-type', 'data-cmp-src', 'data-cmp-attrs', 'data-cmp-processed', 'type', 'async', 'defer', 'src'].includes(attr.name)) { newScript.setAttribute(attr.name, attr.value); } } placeholder.parentNode.replaceChild(newScript, placeholder); // If external script, manually trigger window.onload handlers after it loads // This handles widgets that use window.onload for initialization if (src) { newScript.addEventListener('load', function() { // If page already loaded and script set a new onload handler, trigger it if (document.readyState === 'complete' && window.onload) { const originalOnload = window.onload; window.onload = null; // Clear temporarily to prevent loops originalOnload(); // Execute the handler } }); } }, delay); delay += 500; // 500ms delay between each script to allow full loading }); } cbsoptanon.onScriptsReady(function(cmp) { cmp.ot.targetingAllowed(function(allowed) { if (!allowed) { showPrivacyMessage(); } else { activateGatedScripts(); } }); cmp.ot.awaitInitialConsent(function(consent_model) { cmp.ot.addOnConsentChangedHandler(function() { cmp.ot.targetingAllowed(function(allowed) { if (allowed) { hidePrivacyMessage(); activateGatedScripts(); } else { showPrivacyMessage(); } }); }); }); });