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Linua Zhang, 54 (left), Wenso Zhang, 47 (middle), Jinmei Guan, 51 (right).
Baltimore Police Department |
Baltimore City police served a search and seizure warrant Tuesday at Lina's Massage in the 6400 block of Belair Road.
On websites like Angie's List, the spa is advertised as a legitimate licensed massage parlor that, in all caps, said it does not offer sexual services. But police said that's not true because undercover officers who had been investigating the massage parlor were offered sexual services.
Acting on suspicions from Northeast District patrol officers, a city officer last month posed as a customer and got a massage at Lina's. Charging documents show that 30 minutes into it, the female masseuse, later identified as Jinmei Guan, 51, offered to perform a sex act on him for an extra $20.
The undercover officer said he didn't have extra cash and would come back the next day. Instead, several officers returned Tuesday during a raid in which police said two male customers were in the spa. Documents showed they admitted they were there for sexual services.
Detectives said they also discovered a network of cameras in the massage rooms, where customers were being illegally videotaped. Those cameras were confiscated for evidence.
Police said 54-year-old Linua Zhang, 47-year-old Wenso Zhang and Guan were arrested and charged with unlawful filming. Two of them were charged with prostitution.
Both Zhangs are being held on $2,500 bail, while Guan was released on her own recognizance.
11 News tried to get a comment from someone at the spa during its advertised business hours, but no one answered the door or returned telephone calls.
Kita Lyles is a hair stylist at a business next door.
"I think it's a little a shame. I think it's bad for people like us who are doing real business, and I think it's kind of disgusting," Lyles said.
It's unclear what the spa was doing with the videos it recorded.
Police said the spa did not have a massage therapy license.
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