BOTHELL, Wash. — Advocates in Bothell are speaking out after multiple massage parlors were shut down last week, challenging claims tied to an ongoing police investigation into alleged prostitution.
According to the Bothell Police Department, five massage businesses were ordered to cease operations immediately after authorities identified several fire code violations. The closures came as part of a broader criminal investigation prompted by community complaints about suspected illegal activity.
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Fire officials say the violations included disabled fire alarm systems and unpermitted, unsafe work.
But advocates representing the business owners argue the situation is being mischaracterized and unfairly targeting Asian-owned establishments.
“We’re here today to say loud and clear that Asian massage is not the same as trafficking,” JM Wong of the Massage Parlor Organizing Project said during a press conference addressing the incident Monday.
Wong also raised concerns about how the searches were conducted, alleging that workers were not properly informed of their rights.
“There was no reading of Miranda rights, no interpretation,” Wong said. “Police officers were barging into massage parlors and raiding them, with workers shocked, not knowing what was happening.”
Advocates further claim that recent enforcement actions are disproportionately impacting Asian-owned businesses.
“They don’t see that happening at any other business where there are violations of fire code,” Wong said. “Why is there this targeted discrimination against Asian parlors?”
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However, multiple people who work near the affected businesses say they had long been concerned and observed suspicious activity.
“There were very weird people coming in and out at odd times; it was never during the day, something was weird,” Lindsey Mann, who works in the area, said. “If anyone would pull through, they’d be able to see. The curtains were always closed; it would say open, but there were weird signs up front. It was very clear it was not a normal massage place.”
Advocates are now calling for an end to enforcement raids and for an investigation into what they describe as harassment of workers.
“The collaboration between the Bothell police department and the Bothell fire department, attacking these massage parlors is creating the conditions of anti-Asian violence; we’re here to call on that to stop,” Wong said.
Bothell police say when they served the search warrants last week, they saw workers in lingerie and nude, along with sexual paraphernalia and condoms.
Investigators also walked in on a sex act being performed by a worker, who admitted there was an agreement to perform sex acts for money, and they are investigating allegations of human trafficking after makeshift sleeping quarters and kitchens were found at multiple locations.
“At multiple locations, an alternate light source investigation revealed a significant amount of bodily fluids in and about the rooms,” police wrote in a statement.
Police arrested one of the business owners, and they were booked into jail for investigation of promoting prostitution and trafficking.
