Local massage parlor busted for second time in a year
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – You never know what happens behind closed doors and barred windows. But neighbors had their suspicions about a downtown Albuquerque massage parlor.
“Being open all hours of the night, everything just didn’t make sense as far as a normal massage business,” said a woman who did not want to be identified.
She says she saw a lot of what went on at the business on Lomas near 12th, including a police raid last summer.
Agents found the business advertised on a commercial prostitution website.
“They pulled out a couple of girls, younger girls that we had never seen,” said a woman.
That’s when police arrested Mei Chien Wu for allegedly promoting prostitution. Prosecutors later dropped those charges.
Now, it’s her sister facing trouble. Police arrested Ichi Wu Wednesday after neighbors reported the business was back open.
“Only men coming in and out. We would just see them all day through the window, and they would knock at the door and wait, and somebody would let them in,” the woman said.
Investigators say an agent texted the number for the business listed online and received sexually explicit photos in return. He also found the business on a website advertising for commercial sex with photos of women and services offered.
Agents say they found Ichi Wu inside the business Wednesday with a massive amount of condoms in a crumpled up take out bag. They also found lubricant and lingerie.
They say she began screaming when an agent got a call associated with the massage parlor. Police suspect she was trying to warn the caller of what was going on.
“Knowing this is going on and there’s so many random people coming and going just makes you feel a little unsafe in the area cause you don’t know who these people are what they’re doing here, why they’re here. So definitely a sense of relief,” said the woman.
Ichi Wu is facing a charge of promoting prostitution.
The reason prosecutors dropped the case against her sister last summer was so they could keep gathering more evidence.