12 charged with prostitution in massage-parlor crackdown

A dozen woman from 11 massage parlors are facing prostitution charges after a week-long investigation in North Jersey.

The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office said it also seized more than $20,000 in the investigation, which was initiated as part of a quality-of-life and human-trafficking enforcement initiative.

The investigation involved several police departments as well as Immigration Customs Enforcement, the prosecutor's office said — though it didn't specify if any of those arrested are suspected of being in the country illegally. Each was released on a summons.

Each of those arrested faces a single charge of engaging in prostitution, a fourth-degree crime.

According to the prosecutor's office, employees of several massage parlors were arrested: Royal Massage on Clinton Avenue in Wyckoff; Golden Palm Spa on Hillside Avenue in Tenafly; River Spa on River Edge Road in River Edge; Jade Spa on River Road in Edgewater; River Spa on Dempsey Avenue in Edgewater; Aqua Blue Spa on River Road in Edgewater; World Health Spa on River Road in Edgewater; Heaven Is a Spa on Liberty Street in Little Ferry; Greenish Spa on Route 46 West in South Hackensack; Aztec Spa on Bergen Boulevard in Fairview; and Aroma Spa on Bergen Boulevard in Fairview.

An announcement by the prosecutor's office didn't specify whether any alleged clients were also charged.

Those arrested were: Fong Zhen Wu, 53, of Flushing, N.Y.; Ge Li, 51, of Flushing; Ying J. Tang, 45, of Flushing; Meixiang Deng, 52, of Flushing; Chunmei Jin, 41, of Flushing; Mihwa Jang, 41, of Little Ferry; Jimei Zhou, 33, of Flushing; Jinshan Li, 49, of Flushing; Shunyu Piao, 48, of Little Ferry; Yougin Cho, 36, of Ellicott City, Md.; Kyung Rye Bae, 49, of Bayside, Queens; Chen Xu, 43, of Flushing.