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(Updated) AG: Two arrested for running human trafficking enterprise – Metro US

(Updated) AG: Two arrested for running human trafficking enterprise

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A Medford woman and Woburn man will be in court Tuesday to answer to charges that they allegedly ran massage parlors in several cities and towns as fronts for their human trafficking ring.

Xiu Chen, 32, and Ronald Keplin, 57, were arrested Monday, Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office said.

A months-long investigation led authorities to investigate the duo and learn that they alleged ran six businesses that were portrayed as massage parlors, but were really fronts so they could set up sexual encounters between clients and the women they employed. They allegedly recruited women from across the eastern seaboard, including New York.

The businesses include Mystic Health Center in Medford, Body Wellness Center in Reading, Bedford Asian Bodywork/Bedford Wellness Center in Bedford, Shrine Spa/Billerica Bodywork/Boston Chinese Club in Billerica, Body Language in Wilmington and Asian Bodywork/Woburn Wellness Bodywork in Woburn.

“We allege that these individuals ran an extensive local human trafficking organization through what outwardly appeared to be legitimate businesses in multiple communities,” Coakley said in a statement. “The trafficking of women is often insidious and out of public view, but it is happening right in our own communities.”

Follow Michael Naughton on Twitter @metrobosmike.