Cheektowaga Police Make 2 Arrests at Little Foot Spa

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Cheektowaga police have arrested two people in connection with a Union Road massage parlor that they say was a front for prostitution and sex trafficking.

Police on Wednesday arrested Xiaohua Huang, 41, who they said was the manager of the Little Foot Spa, and charged her with promoting prostitution and unauthorized practice of a profession. Both charges are felonies.

They also arrested Yanlin Tang, 52, who they said provided sexual services at the spa. Tang was charged with prostitution, a misdemeanor, and unauthorized practice of profession, a felony under New York Education Law.

Cheektowaga police said they began investigating the spa after learning of the findings of a 2 On Your Side investigation, to be released next week, into unlicensed spas in Western New State. York.

Huang will be arraigned Thursday morning in Cheektowaga Municipal Court. Tang was released on bail, according to Officer Jennifer Szymborski, Cheektowaga police public information officer.

The arrests came a day after Cheektowaga police, New York State Police and federal Homeland Security agents raided the spa on suspicion it was a front illegal for prostitution. Police also raided the Four Seasons Spa in Depew, which they said was linked to the Cheektowaga location. They seized more than $81,000 in cash from the two businesses.

Police said they also suspected the spas were part of a larger sex trafficking operation preying on vulnerable Asian women, including some undocumented immigrants. Some women lived in apartments connected to the Cheektowaga Spa.

The recent police action follows a federal raid on a Lockport spa where police say sex was being sold. Federal agents arrested Chinese national Linian Song on charges of interstate prostitution after the raid. It is unclear whether the Cheektowaga and Depew spas are connected to the New Elegant Shiatsu Spa in Lockport.