The Judiciary Police (PJ) and the mainland’s Public Security Bureau (PSB) have dismantled a cross-border prostitution ring that used social media groups to arrange sexual services, resulting in the arrest of 47 people and the interception of 26 prostitutes and four clients, PJ spokesman Ho Wai Lok said during a special press conference yesterday.
The operation, codenamed “Operation Monsoon,” saw Macau police arrest 16 suspected ring members, including 14 Chinese mainland and Hong Kong residents and a Nepalese non-resident worker (NRW). Local police also intercepted 11 women involved in prostitution and four clients. Chinese mainland police arrested 31 suspected ring members, including two Macau residents – one of whom is a 39-year-old local female kingpin surnamed Yao, who was responsible for managing the online ring – and intercepted another 15 women involved in prostitution in Guangzhou, Foshan, Shenzhen, Zhongshan and Zhuhai.
According to Ho, the mastermind was a 39-year-old mainland woman surnamed Yi, who created and managed online groups used to arrange prostitution services. The ring members included several pimps who solicited clients around hotels in Macau.
Ho added that the investigation discovered that the group recruited women to come to Macau for prostitution and charged them a fee of 200 yuan per seven days to join its online groups. When a pimp introduced a client, Yi would arrange for nearby prostitutes to go to the client’s hotel for the client to choose. The women were required to charge a minimum of HK$1,000 per transaction, while the pimps took an 88 percent share of any amount charged above the minimum.
The group also recruited a 37-year-old Nepalese hotel security guard, surnamed Kunwar, who was tasked with providing information about hotel operations, police patrols and helping the ring members avoid detection.
The Judiciary Police began investigating the case after receiving intelligence in July and subsequently established a joint task force with Chinese mainland’s Public Security Bureau, Ho said.
According to Ho, the Judiciary Police believe the group had been operating since March, with about 300 members in its online groups and transactions involving about HK$5.3 million.
Ho also said the mastermind required the ring’s members and prostitutes to regularly delete communication records, while the members would alert each other about police patrols.
The Judiciary Police deployed about 110 officers in Wednesday’s operation, making arrests around several hotels in Cotai and intercepting the ring’s prostitutes and clients in Taipa. Officers seized mobile phones, cash, and prostitution-related items such as condoms and intimate apparel.
The 16 suspected ring members arrested in Macau were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing charges of organised crime membership and pimping, according to Ho. The investigation is continuing.
This undated handout photo provided by the Judiciary Police (PJ) yesterday shows local and Chinese mainland police officers holding a meeting to discuss a cross-border prostitution ring case.
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort 16 hooded suspects, who face charges of organised crime membership and pimping, to two police buses outside the PJ headquarters in Zape yesterday. – Photo: Sherwin Hng
