JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – Federal agencies and Jacksonville police continued their investigation Thursday after a raid at the Tang Dynasty Foot Spa in Jacksonville Beach netted seven arrests.
Sources tell News4Jax that Wednesday’s raid was an investigation into a report of human trafficking. Bo Tang and Shen Liu, the owners, were arrested on charges of permitting an unlicensed person to practice massage.
Additionally, News4Jax has learned Dongyuan Huang, Dunfa Jiang, Changchun Wang, Liwei Wang and Yongzhem Zhu were arrested and charged with performing massages without a license.
The FBI, Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security are involved with the investigation. Spokespersons for the departments have not clarified any details about what type of investigation is underway.
READ: Federal agents raid Jacksonville Beach spa
Property records show Bo Tang and Shen Liu live at an address in the Mill Cove neighborhood. News4Jax visited the house on Thursday, and someone inside quickly closed the blinds.
A few minutes later, a van pulled up at the home, and people rushed out of the van and into the house.
Councilwoman LeAnna Cumber, District 5, sponsors a bill that would aim to prevent human trafficking, She believes police at the spa were investigating a report of human labor trafficking.
“Human trafficking is really the umbrella of trafficking and under that is labor trafficking and sex trafficking. What those two subsets of human trafficking have in common is at some point, someone is being forced or coerced into doing something for someone else’s financial gain," she explained.
Business records for Tang Dynasty show its licenses are up to date. There were no active complaints.