(From left) Hong Kong Police Senior Inspector Chan Yi-hang, Chief Inspector Yam Suet-ying, Chief Inspector Tang Hoi-tung and Senior Inspector Yuen Ming-lok. Photo: May Tse
HONG KONG (SCMP/The Straits Times/ANN): Japanese porn stars are among more than 30 people arrested by Hong Kong and Singaporean police in a crackdown on an international prostitution ring that charged as much as HK$150,000 (US$19,270) for sex.
Hong Kong police began investigating a locally controlled syndicate that ran social media platforms promoting Japanese sex workers, using adult film actresses as a selling point and arranging stays in city hotels, according to Chief Inspector Tang Hoi-tung from the organised crime and triad bureau.
The syndicate ran provocative photos and covers of adult films to market their services, charging anywhere from thousands to tens of thousands of Hong Kong dollars, she said.
Some of the actresses showed up at gatherings with local fans and charged up to HK$150,000 for sex, according to the force.
After clients made deposits arranged through social media, the syndicate would direct them to hotel rooms. The group took half of the earnings.
“Some arrested [local] individuals had studied in Japan, and we believe they were fluent in Japanese and able to communicate with those Japanese sex workers.”
The group made more than 100 hotel bookings in the past year, and earned HK$20 million in a year, she added.
After discovering the syndicate’s sex workers were also operating in Macau and Singapore, Hong Kong police contacted authorities in the two jurisdictions, as well as in Japan, to share intelligence.
Senior Inspector Yuen Ming-lok explains how the syndicate operated. Photo: May Tse
So far, 39 suspects have been arrested, including seven core members of the syndicate and three Japanese sex workers in Hong Kong.
Singaporean authorities arrested one syndicate member and three Japanese sex workers, while operations in Japan were ongoing.
In Hong Kong, core members were arrested on suspicion of living off the earnings of sex workers and controlling prostitution.
The alleged female mastermind and two core members face additional money laundering charges involving more than HK$19 million.
The case includes four residential properties worth a total of about HK$17 million.
During the operation, police raided 10 flats across Hong Kong, arresting 25 women aged 20 to 45.
Three were locals and eight were two-way permit holders from mainland China. The remaining 14 were foreign passport holders comprising six Thai, five Japanese, two Vietnamese and a Laotian.
In a separate operation, Hong Kong police dismantled a triad-controlled prostitution ring.
Investigators discovered the group had been operating since August in multiple districts, renting more than 20 flats as “one-woman brothels” in commercial-residential buildings in Mong Kok, To Kwa Wan, Tsim Sha Tsui and Wan Chai.
The group recruited women from the mainland and overseas, including from Thailand, Kazakhstan and Laos, directing their services via messaging apps.
Charges ranged from HK$500 to HK$2,000 per session, with the syndicate taking 60 per cent of earnings.
The operation generated more than HK$1.5 million a month from August to November.
Police arrested four core members and seized account books, phones and two vehicles worth about HK$500,000.
Twenty-six women from the mainland, Thailand, Russia, Kazakhstan and Laos were also detained. - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
