Two owners of a Tyler-area spa are facing trafficking and prostitution charges after a raid tied to an ongoing human-trafficking investigation in Smith County. Lingfeng Wu and Chunfeng Zhang, both 41, were booked and are being held on $1.5 million bonds each at the Smith County Jail. Court documents allege the pair coerced a Chinese woman into providing sexual services by threatening to beat her.
According to KETK, investigators with the Smith County Sheriff's Office, Homeland Security and the Texas Department of Public Safety executed a search warrant at T Spa on Highway 31 in Tyler as part of an ongoing human-trafficking investigation. Wu and Zhang have since been charged with continuous trafficking of persons, aggravated promotion of prostitution, and online promotion of prostitution. The spa is listed at 12666 State Highway 31 W. in Smith County, according to KLTV, which reported details from the arrest affidavits.
Affidavits Describe Recruitment and Confinement
The affidavits, as described by KLTV, say the woman — identified in court records by the pseudonym Luna — was recruited online in Hong Kong for what she believed was legitimate massage work. They allege Wu and Zhang made her live at the spa, took her passport and identification, and threatened to beat her if she refused sexual services. Luna reportedly told detectives that clients requested sexual services on her first day and that she was made to comply.
The same affidavits indicate the Smith County Sheriff's Office had received multiple 911 calls reporting possible prostitution and human trafficking at the spa before the raid. During one of those calls, a deputy who responded reportedly encountered Wu and an Asian woman at the spa, who told the deputy that no one was being trafficked there, according to the affidavits.
Escape, Rescue and a Cross-Country Flight
The affidavits also allege Wu and Zhang sent roughly $150,000 to China through payment apps. In a separate incident described in the affidavit account, a 911 caller reportedly helped Luna escape from the parlor after she asked for help during a massage, then drove her to the West Coast, where the affidavits say she is now safe. If convicted, the pair could face at least 25 years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines.
Part of a Broader Crackdown on Texas Massage Parlors
The Tyler case lands amid a wider enforcement push against massage businesses suspected of trafficking across Texas. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation has reported that orders permanently revoked the licenses of 63 Texas massage establishments suspected of human trafficking during the first two years of House Bill 3579, according to a Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation statement. In a separate case, six massage parlors across Texas, all owned by the same person, Wanli Peng, were shut down after investigators alleged employees were living at the locations, working without licenses, and that sexual paraphernalia and role-playing costumes were found on site, per CBS Texas.
What Texas enforcement figures show
The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation said in a September 16, 2025, release that it had issued 53 emergency orders related to suspected human trafficking since late 2023, affecting 78 locations. Such orders and license actions are regulatory measures, not criminal convictions or proof that trafficking occurred at each location, according to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
The Texas Attorney General's Office has estimated that more than 2,500 illicit massage businesses operate in the state. That estimate is not a count of confirmed trafficking cases, nor does it describe massage businesses generally, according to the Texas Attorney General's Office.
Similar investigations have surfaced outside Texas in recent months. In Northern Virginia, police shut down six massage parlors and rescued several trafficking victims connected to a prostitution scheme, with Manassas City Police arresting three people, according to NBC4 Washington. In Pennsylvania, the owner of two Lancaster County spas was charged with running a commercial sex operation, with investigators alleging the owner advertised commercial sex online and transported female sex workers to the locations, as reported by ABC27.
The allegations against Wu and Zhang remain unproven in court, and no further case updates have been released beyond the charges and bond amounts confirmed by jail records. Both remain held at the Smith County Jail as the investigation continues.
