Prostitution arrests not surprising

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Carmel-based hair stylist Gina Dattilo knew there was something odd about Dove Spa in Carmel. Datillo, who works at A.C. & Co. Hair Designers next door to the spa, said some of the things she saw while working “just didn’t seem right.”

“If I worked late, it was only men that always went in there, and the lights were kind of dark… I just thought that it was kind of strange,” Datillo said.

Area police confirmed her suspicions by raiding both the Dove Spa in Carmel and Beijing Spa in Zionsville on May 1 because investigators believed the spas had been operating as prostitution houses for close to a year. One man and five women face prostitution charges as a result of the raid.

A worker at Hearing Solutions Plus in Zionsville, located next to Beijing Spa, said it was obvious something was going on. He said he saw only men going in and out and estimated about two men per hour entered the small white building. The worker asked not to be identified.

Stylist Gina Datillo said that she’s glad the spa was shut down and doesn’t think it will affect her business.

“They’ve been in business about three to four years, and I think they were pretty slick for a while. It makes me wonder if there was a much bigger problem than what we saw on the outside, like human trafficking,” she said.

Even on May 5 two days after Dove Spa had been shut down, The Current witnessed two men attempt to go into the spa within a half hour time frame.

A Hamilton/Boone County Drug Task Force, along with several area police agencies, participated in the investigation which began in August 2012 after investigators received anonymous tips of possible sexual activity inside. Police announced the results of the investigation at a news conference last week.

Fishers resident, Lu Wang, 50, is accused of running a prostitution ring through Dove and Beijing spas, and faces charges of promoting prostitution.

“The significance of this case is we were able to get to the top of the person that was actually writing the checks, the person actually controlling the business,” said Major Aaron Dietz, commander of the Hamilton/Boone County Drug Task Force.

Five women who worked at both spas were arrested including Jinna Luan, 52, for promoting prostitution; Hui Xiao, 40, Min Yu, 43, and Toby Hou, 23, for prostitution and Aiqin Yu, 40, on two counts of prostitution. All women live in Carmel except Min Yu, who lives in Fishers, and Aiqin Yu, who lives in Zionsville. Yajie Liu, 55, of Carmel has been charged with prostitution and was still at large at publication time.

After searching both businesses and three homes leased by Wang and Laun, two cars and $250,000, including $210,000 in cash were seized.

 


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