Attorney General Ellison fights human trafficking at illicit massage businesses

Sends letter to 9 commercial landlords advising them they may be renting to an illicit massage business engaged in commercial sex and human trafficking; requests cooperation to ensure illicit activity ceases on their property

AG’s office working alongside local law enforcement and national anti-trafficking nonprofit The Network, with investigative support from the BCA’s Human Trafficking Investigator’s Task Force

May 12, 2026 (SAINT PAUL) — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s Office has alerted 9 commercial landlords located across the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metro-area that they may be renting their property to tenants that are engaging in an illicit massage business. Illicit massage businesses pose as legitimate massage parlors but are fronts for commercial sex and human trafficking. Illicit massage businesses engage in this criminal activity by exploiting women who are often trafficked into the country, lured by false promises, isolated, and controlled through coercion and debt. In letters to the 9 landlords, Attorney General Ellison’s Office asks them to work proactively with the Office and law enforcement to identify and shut down any illicit massage business or commercial sex operation at their properties.

As part of this landlord-engagement initiative, the Attorney General’s Office is collaborating with local law enforcement and national anti-trafficking nonprofit The Network, and the Office is receiving investigative support related to criminal activity from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s Human Trafficking Investigators Task Force. The Office will continue to work with its state and local enforcement partners and the Network to identify and shutdown illicit massage businesses in Minnesota, through this landlord engagement program, as well as civil and criminal enforcement actions. The Office stresses that its enforcement strategy is targeting traffickers and sex buyers, not the women being exploited and trafficked.

“Minnesota will not tolerate vulnerable women being abused and trafficked at illicit massage businesses hiding in plain sight in our communities,” said Attorney General Ellison. “I’m asking property owners to join me and do their part to help stamp out this criminal conduct.”

This is the first step of the Attorney General’s Office proactive engagement with property owners to identify and shut down illicit massage businesses. The Attorney General’s letter not only identifies common “red flag” warning signs of illicit massage businesses and information gathered about conduct occurring at their rented property, but also identifies the legal ramifications of permitting an illicit massage business to operate from their property. The letter requests a response from the property owner within 10 business days. The Office anticipates working with these property owners to ensure any and all criminal activity at their properties promptly ceases.

Common red flags of illicit massage businesses

According to The Network, the following are some of the warning signs of an illicit massage business:

A comprehensive list of warning signs is attached to the letters that Attorney General Ellison’s office sent to the commercial landlords.

The Attorney General’s Office urges landlords and residents to remain vigilant and report any suspicious businesses. Landlords who believe an illicit massage business may be operating on their property are encouraged to contact:

Attorney General Ellison continues to hold corporations accountable for harming public safety

Attorney General Ellison continues to use civil law to hold corporations accountable for harming public safety.

Individuals who commit criminal acts should be held accountable for those acts in the criminal-justice system. The Attorney General is an active partner in criminal prosecution in Minnesota: the Criminal Division of the Attorney General’s Office assists county attorneys across Minnesota upon their request in prosecuting individuals who have committed serious violent crimes and has a long track record of winning convictions.

At the same time, when corporations create conditions that contribute to harming public safety, then refuse to rectify those conditions when they become aware of them, they should also be held accountable. Holding corporations civilly accountable is not a substitute for criminally prosecuting individuals who harm others; rather, it complements criminal prosecution by holding corporate actors farther upstream accountable for their role in creating conditions that harm the safety of the public and facilitate individual criminal acts.

Attorney General Ellison’s landlord engagement initiative with respect to illicit massage businesses is the latest example of his pioneering use of civil law to complement criminal prosecution in holding actors accountable for harming public safety.  Other examples include: