Dallas vice unit raids alleged illicit massage business, Southlake restaurant Dragon House - WFAA.com

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This story has been updated to reflect new information.

Six people were arrested Wednesday and three others are wanted for their alleged roles in operating an illicit massage business in Dallas' Design District, officials said.

After a months-long investigation into Jade Spa, detectives with the Dallas Police Department vice unit said they confirmed prostitution was going on inside the spa and suspected sex trafficking was occurring at the location as well.


The investigation into the business at 2006 Market Center Boulevard began in February 2019, officials said.

Investigators had collected enough evidence to execute search warrants Wednesday at eight other locations in Dallas, Carrollton, Grapevine, Arlington, Southlake and Irving that they believed were connected to the operation.

One of those was carried out at Dragon House restaurant, police said. The restaurant is on the 2600 block of East Southlake Boulevard in Southlake.

"The restaurant is directly tied to Jade Spa’s owners and management and is financially linked to the illegal activities at Jade Spa," a spokesperson for Dallas police wrote.

Dragon House had been a well-liked restaurant in the community, receiving an average of 4.4 stars on Google with more than 230 reviews, and an average of four stars with more than 215 reviews on Yelp.

The restaurant will be temporarily closed until Nov. 30, according to a message displayed on Yelp on Oct. 31.

Yelp

The restaurant also posted to Google that it would be temporarily closed around 9 p.m. Wednesday.

In addition to the six people arrested, officials also detained multiple people that were inside the locations they searched.

Police say they are now working with other organizations to determine if those people were sex trafficking victims to help them get the support they may need.

Police said the six people below were all arrested on charges of aggravated promotion of prostitution and engaging in organized criminal activity for their roles in financing and running the spa:

• Chung Shendelman, 62, is being held on a combined $200,000 bail.
• Yong Suk Brown, 61, is being held on a combined $200,000 bail.
• Sangchan Byun, 41, is being held on a combined $200,000 bail.
• Jae Jasmin Lee, 48, is being held on a combined $200,000 bail.
• Unlu Gurpinar, 64, is being held on a combined $200,000 bail.
• Yong Bei-Wang-Murphy, 51

All six were still in jail as of 11:30 a.m. Thursday, jail records show.

Officials did not identify the three suspects who are still at large.

The spa's Certificate of Occupancy from the city of Dallas was revoked and it will be prevented from reopening due to a temporary restraining order, Dallas police officials said.

About $370,000 connected to operation was also seized or frozen at local banks, police said.

Dallas officers worked with Irving, Arlington, Grapevine and Southlake police, along with state and federal law enforcement officers, to execute the operation, officials said.

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