‘Turning the tide': Cobb County, state cracking down on lucrative illicit massage industry
Channel 2 Cobb County Bureau Chief Michele Newell spoke exclusively Tuesday with the Cobb County Police Department, the County Business License Division and the Attorney General's office about what they've been doing for more than a year to crack down on businesses and the owners that are allegedly hiring unlicensed massage therapists.
According to local and state agencies, the illicit massage industry brings in over $5 billion a year through storefronts in every state across the nation.
'There was a location that we know about that was earning about $50,000 a month,' said Cobb County Police Department Bruce Witt.
'The data we just recently received, each illicit massage business is grossing approximately $1.2 million per storefront,' said Ellisia Webb, Cobb County Business License Division Manager.
Cobb County police said during visits to health spas in the county, they noticed some that have indicators of human trafficking.
Pictures show a small camera setup in a massage room, lingerie, beer bottles, beds, red lights in some massage rooms and more.
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Witt said he has also noticed women living in the back of some businesses that police and county officials worked to shut down.
'Two young ladies in the back of a business, both of them came from China, one came through New York and one from California. They both ended up in the back of a business in Cobb County and were living there for several months. They did not know the people that transported them,' Witt told Newell.
'Two women were working in an illicit massage business and shared with us that at night they pull a suitcase out from under the massage tables and everything they own in the world is inside of those suitcases,' said Hannah Palmquist, Chief of the Georgia Attorney Generals Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.
When it comes to customers who are believed to be fueling the industry…
'Statistically buyers are often otherwise law-abiding citizens. They may have a wife at home. They may have kids. They may work,' Palmquist said.
'Lunchtime is a bigger time because people will go out on their breaks,' said Sgt. Dan Formato of the Cobb County Police Department.
The Georgia Attorney General's Office said it is going after traffickers, customers and using special investigative tools to crack down on the problem further. So far, the agency has shut down 31 illicit massage businesses.
'We have successfully prosecuted 12 people after the recovery of just one victim that's an example of how we are turning the tide in the state of Georgia,' Palmquist said.
Cobb County police and the County Business License Division re-wrote and strengthened the health spa ordinance to deter illicit massage businesses from setting up shop in the county.
Cobb County police have arrested 11 business owners over the past year. All are accused of hiring unlicensed massage therapists.
If they are found guilty of allowing unlicensed massage therapy in their business, they would be disqualified or denied from applying for a new business license for a 10-year period in Cobb County.
The Attorney General's Office said it has tried to help victims by offering resources.
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