Suffolk police arrest two workers in Huntington Station massage parlor raid

Community complaints put Suffolk police back at The Shop on East Jericho Turnpike, where officers and town inspectors found enough to arrest two workers and issue more violations. The Huntington Station storefront, at 523 East Jericho Turnpike, was investigated for the third time this year, underscoring how often the corridor has drawn scrutiny.

Second Precinct Crime Section officers worked with the Town of Huntington Fire Marshal and the town’s Ordinance Inspector during the June 17 operation. Police said Irene Jin, 53, of Bethpage, was charged with criminal nuisance, a misdemeanor, while Yuna Takahashi, 52, was charged with two counts of unauthorized practice of a profession, a felony, and two counts of prostitution, both misdemeanors.

The town fire marshal and ordinance inspector also issued additional violations and are continuing their own investigation into the business. That matters because the response went beyond a single criminal case: Suffolk County paired arrests with code enforcement, a pattern that has increasingly defined how officials handle massage parlor complaints in Huntington Station and elsewhere on Long Island.

The Shop had already been targeted at least once this spring. On May 19, Suffolk police announced another raid at the same East Jericho Turnpike address, when Jin and Eunja Heo were arrested. Police also announced a separate Huntington Station massage parlor enforcement action in April at Pure Co Natural Spa, 499 East Jericho Turnpike, showing that the stretch of road has remained under sustained pressure from investigators.

The repeated focus on massage parlors reflects a broader enforcement trend. Police have raided nearly 240 spas on Long Island in the last five years, with 85 hit more than once, and arrests have climbed more than 1,200 percent. New York State’s Office of the Professions classifies massage therapy as a licensed profession, which helps explain why Suffolk cases often combine prostitution allegations with unauthorized practice charges.

For Huntington Station, the immediate result is another round of arrests, violations and court appearances in Central Islip. The larger question is whether repeated raids along East Jericho Turnpike will keep disrupting suspected illicit operations, or simply push them to the next storefront.