Original Post
JackTheBat

28-7-2018 10:37
July 27: scores of suspected sex workers arrested in King Hing building

Scores of suspected sex workers arrested in same building where Hong Kong police rounded up almost 100 just months ago
PUBLISHED: Friday, 27 July, 2018
Clifford Lo
Among those picked up at King Hing Building in Mong Kok were women from Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Venezuela, Belarus and mainland China
https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-law-and-crime/article/2157241/scores-suspected-sex-workers-arrested-same

Hong Kong police arrested scores of suspected sex workers after launching new anti-vice raids in a residential building where nearly 100 prostitutes including 17 Russians and seven Thai transgender women were rounded up in a crackdown earlier this year.

Among the 80 arrests on Thursday and Friday at the 15-storey King Hing Building in Mong Kok were 12 Thai transgender women, nine Russian women, three each from Kazakhstan and Ukraine, two from Venezuela and one from Belarus, police said. The others were 10 Thai women and 40 female visitors from mainland China.

Police arrested them on suspicion of breaching their conditions of stay.

Two local men were also arrested.

Acting Chief Inspector Timothy Cheung Chun-long said police noticed organised vice activities had made a return in April following the January crackdown in which 99 were arrested.

“Investigations showed criminals arranged sex workers to work in subdivided flats in the building,” he said. “We also believe some flat owners and tenants allowed their premises to be used as brothels.”

Several triad gangs controlled the vice activities and paid people to rent the subdivided flats and apply to have electricity, water and internet services connected to evade detection, he said.

A police source said a sex worker charged HK$400 (US$51) to HK$700 per client, but half of that went to the gangs to pay for the flat where the women worked and slept.

“A surveillance camera was fixed outside each flat to monitor their business. Pimps were sent to collect the money regularly,” he said.

The source said the owner of a property – which could be split into three to five subdivided flats – was paid HK$20,000 to HK$30,000 as monthly rent.

After noticing illegal activities, police gathered evidence and then applied for search warrants before the five-hour operation swooped into action on Thursday evening.

At about 7.30pm, nearly 20 undercover officers posing as customers entered the building, where most of the flats between the third and 14th floors had been converted into subdivided flats used as brothels. There are commercial premises on the ground, first and second floors.

About 30 minutes later, about 60 officers carrying search warrants moved in, broke into 80 subdivided flats and made the arrests.

One man, 45, suspected to be a pimp, was arrested outside the building. The second man arrested, a customer, 29, was accused of assaulting a police officer in the operation.

In a follow-up operation on Friday, police arrested two men and two women who owned three flats in the building. The four locals were arrested on suspicion of letting their premises be used as a vice establishment – an offence that carries a maximum penalty of seven years in prison.

It is understood police are still searching for the owners of another 10 flats in connection with the case.

Cheung said the operation struck a heavy blow on vice activities in the building and the income source of those behind the rackets.

He said police would continue to investigate the gangs involved.

Stressing that regular patrols and enforcement action against illegal vice activities in the building would continue, he said police would consider applying for court orders for six-month closures to tackle owners who allowed their flats to be used as brothels.

Working as a prostitute is not illegal in Hong Kong, but it is against the law to solicit clients, run a brothel of two or more people, live off the earnings of a prostitute, or control a woman for the purpose of prostitution.

UsernameTimeCreditsReason
obe 28-7-2018 10:49 Acceptance +10 Thanks
cknc31 28-7-2018 11:46 Acceptance +3 i wonder why KH keeps getting targeted, but other prime locations like Fuji and JSL etc get away with it
Mister 28-7-2018 20:33 Acceptance +3 Wonder why they needed 20 cops to pose as customers first instead of raiding the building straight away
aurufc 29-7-2018 09:56 Acceptance +6 FFS.....only WC freelancers are completely troublefree these days?
batman108 29-7-2018 14:28 Acceptance +3 Awesome and thanks
blast77 29-7-2018 15:06 Acceptance +8 Seems LE operations intensifying in HK
MothToAFlame 29-7-2018 16:15 Acceptance +2 10 Thai women and 12 trans women. Not good odds.
paladin310 5-8-2018 11:25 Acceptance +8 Thanks for sharing.


All times are GMT+8, the time now is 11-11-2024 18:06

Powered by Discuz! 5.0.0 © 2001-2006 Comsenz Inc.
Processed in 0.024678 second(s), 7 queries , Gzip enabled

Clear Cookies - Contact Us - 141Love
Disclaimer: This forum is operated as a real-time bulletin board system. 141CLUB.COM carries no legal liability on its contents. All messages are solely composed and up-loaded by readers and their opinions do not represent our stand. Readers are reminded that the contents on this forum may not convey reliable information thus it is readers' own responsibility to judge the validity, completeness and truthfulness of the messages. For messages related to medical, legal or investment issues, readers should always seek advice from professionals. Due to the limitation of the forum's real-time up-loading nature, 141CLUB.com is not able to monitor all the messages posted. Should readers find any problems regarding the messages, do contact us. 141CLUB.COM reserves the rights to delete or preserve any messages and reject anyone from joining this forum. 141CLUB.COM reserves all the legal rights.