Owners of massage parlors in Wellesley, Revere arrested in human trafficking operation

By Milton J. Valencia, Globe Staff

A woman and a man who owned massage parlors in Wellesley and Revere have been arrested in connection with a human trafficking investigation, the state attorney general’s office announced today.

Zhen Lai, 37, of Quincy and Joseph Girouard, 55, of Revere were arrested this afternoon without incident by State Police assigned to the attorney general’s office and agents from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations office, along with several police departments.

Lai is due to be arraigned Friday morning in Dedham District Court and Girouard is due to be arraigned Friday morning in Chelsea District Court. Lai was arrested in Quincy and Girouard was arrested in Somerville.

The officials were investigating allegations of human trafficking and prostitution at Sun Studio, also known as Sun Spa, in Wellesley and Bodywork in Revere. Authorities allege that Lai and Girouard jointly operated the two massage parlors.

“We allege that these individuals ran two massage parlors that were thinly veiled fronts for prostitution,” said Attorney General Martha Coakley. “Further, these two defendants allegedly profited from sexual services provided to clients by women they employed. We would like to thank HSI and our local police partners for assisting in the investigation and arrests.”

“Today’s arrests are the result of the great partnership HSI has with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office and Massachusetts State Police in our unyielding resolve to bring human traffickers to justice,” said Bruce M. Foucart, special agent in charge of HSI Boston. “Human trafficking can exist anywhere, as shown with this investigation. HSI will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to ensure that those who commit these crimes are held accountable for their actions.”