Seven human trafficking victims removed from Joplin massage parlors

Three Joplin massage parlors are under investigation for possible human trafficking. Seven suspected female victims are receiving assistance and no arrests have been made. Joplin Police Department served three search warrants as part of an on-going human trafficking investigation. Captain Trevor Duncan tells News Talk KZRG no arrests have been made.

“These women were victims. There was nobody present that would be arrested at that time. There’s a lot of concern about why no arrests were made. ‘Why is it that you have a crime with seven people and that nobody was arrested?’ That doesn’t mean that there were people there guarding them or things like that. Nobody was arrested, not because we chose not to make arrests, but because there was nobody there committing a crime to be arrested.”

The women were immediately paired with services to ensure their well-being and safety. Duncan says the women are not local, and several of the women did not speak English, so translators were on site assisting in the on-going investigation.

Last year, three Joplin massage parlors were shut down for serving as fronts for sex trafficking.

By Joe Lancello of Missourinet affiliate KZRG in Joplin