Sting of Surfside massage parlors leads to four prostitution arrests

This story has been updated.

Four people were arrested in connection with prostitution by Surfside Beach police and booked into jail Thursday or Friday morning, according to J. Reuben Long Detention Center records.

In a statement Friday morning, Surfside Beach police said they worked in an undercover operation on Thursday with Horry County police to make the arrests at three different massage parlors:

• Hua Min Liu, 54, of Little River, was charged with prostitution and prostitution-related offenses at Sunrise Massage at 313 U.S. 17 N.;
• David Li, 54, of Little River, was charged with first offense prostitution at Sunrise Massage;
• Yingshu Li, 49, of Flushing, New York was charged with first offense prostitution at Palm Massage at 520 U.S. 17 S.;
• Guixiang Su, 57, of Surfside Beach, was charged with first offense prostitution at Juns Therapeutic Massage.

All four suspects worked at the massage parlors where they were arrested, according to Interim Police Chief Kenneth Hoffman.

“These arrests should send a clear message that Surfside Beach is The Family Beach,” Hoffman said in a statement. “This activity is not legal or welcome here. It undermines our values as a community and only serves to attract a criminal element that erodes our quality of life and safety.”

Hoffman said the investigation began after Surfside police and fire departments had received tips about possible illegal activity at several massage parlors.

“We don’t want to single out any one particular business so we made an effort during the operation to check all the businesses here in the town,” he said. “Each of these businesses will be checked to make sure all local codes are in compliance. The police department’s approach under my supervision will be to revoke these businesses’ licenses.”

This story was originally published June 30, 2017 at 8:29 AM with the headline "Sting of Surfside massage parlors leads to four prostitution arrests."