Staff photo / Dan Pompili The Harmony Foot Spa massage parlor at 445 W. Main St. in Canfield. Police and members of the Mahoning County Human Trafficking Task Force executed warrants at the business on Tuesday and Wednesday and arrested Shanshan Zhang on multiple charges, including promoting prostitution. A neighboring business owner said the spa was only open for a week before the bust.

CANFIELD — Online sleuthing and undercover work led to a prostitution bust at a recently opened foot spa and massage parlor.

A nearby business owner said Harmony Foot Spa, at 445 W. Main Street in Canfield had only been open for a week before its owner was arrested on charges of prostitution, but the place already seemed like it may pose problems.

Stephen Solic, owner of Solic Auctioneers, said staff at the parlor that operated in a small space at the front of the same building had been discarding boxes, paint cans and even some furniture in Solic’s dumpster at the rear of the parking lot.

He said he had no idea that the massage parlor was operating as a front for illicit activity but he is grateful police caught on quickly.

“It does make me feel better that they caught on that fast,” he said. “It just shows that someone is paying attention and that they care about this area.”

Solic said it is a relief that, if the charges are valid, that such a place is no longer operating so close to a school. Early Bird Learning Center is less than 50 yards away from where Harmony operated.

On Tuesday, Canfield police and agents from the Mahoning County Human Trafficking Task Force executed a search warrant at the parlor and arrested Shanshan Zhang, 36, of Buford, Georgia. Zhang is charged with promoting prostitution and possession of criminal tools — fourth and third-degree felonies respectively — and a misdemeanor count of solicitation.

Zhang is due in Mahoning County Canfield Court today, where she’ll stand before Judge Molly K. Johnson, the same judge who signed the search warrant for Zhang’s parlor.

The report from Canfield police states that Sgt. Josh Wells of Canfield Police was informed on Jan. 15 by Task Force Commander Maj. Jeff Allen that his team had found an online ad under the “Ohio-Youngstown-Female Escort” section of a website called “Skip the Games.” Allen told Wells that the task force had already made an appointment for an undercover officer to check out the business.

That same day, the report states, an officer entered the parlor for a foot massage and Allen reported back to Wells that a woman going by the name of Nina at Harmony Foot Spa solicited the officer for sex during the appointment. Police later identified that woman as Zhang.

The next day, that detective prepared a search warrant, which Judge Johnson signed. The report states that the two law enforcement teams met at Canfield Police Department on Tuesday to review their plans before the same detective kept a 4 p.m. appointment at the spa, and other police followed him into the business.

The report states that Zhang was the only person there and was brought to the police department for an interview. She was subsequently charged and booked into Mahoning County Jail, where she remains as of Thursday.

Police returned to the business on Wednesday and completed a search, confiscating several phones, pads, computers, other digital devices, money and documents, all of which were logged into evidence.