Hong Kong police smash alleged Thai prostitution ring, seize HK$13 million cash

Hong Kong police have dismantled a local syndicate allegedly running a vice ring involving Thai women, seizing HK$13 million in cash (US$1.66 million) and freezing HK$5 million in suspected crime proceeds.

The force said on Saturday that it arrested five local men and two foreign men, aged between 44 and 54, for allegedly running a prostitution ring in the Tsim Sha Tsui district by luring Southeast Asian women to work as sex workers in Hong Kong.

Four core members, including three brothers and one Thai national, were arrested on suspicion of human trafficking, living off the earnings of prostitution of others, causing prostitution and money laundering.

Nine sex workers from Thailand, aged between 19 and 33, were also arrested on Friday during an undercover operation for allegedly breaching their conditions of stay.

Superintendent Gar Kam-lam of the crime unit at West Kowloon headquarters said the syndicate members in Thailand would entice women to fly to Hong Kong and arrange for them to stay in hotels in Tsim Sha Tsui, covering their flights, meals and accommodation to provide sexual services in exchange for money.

“We found that the syndicate operated quite meticulously,” he said.

“They also advertised for them online and on Telegram, using photos and videos to attract customers.”

On Thursday and Friday, officers broke into a flat in a private housing estate in Tuen Mun, which acted as the syndicate’s operations centre, and arrested two core members who were contacting clients and the sex workers via Telegram at the time.

During the operation, police seized disposable towels, condoms and HK$13 million in illicit proceeds, including HK$400,000 in cash believed to be the syndicate’s earnings in the past two days.

Senior Inspector Yip Yan-wa of the district crime squad team said the four core syndicate members used their personal bank accounts to process the proceeds of their crime and also transferred funds overseas.

“We successfully froze four bank accounts operated under individual names by criminal syndicates, totalling over HK$5 million, successfully preventing the transfer of these proceeds.”

Officers also seized two computers from the syndicate’s operations centre. One computer was operating an online social media platform, advertising and updating the schedules of each sex worker to attract clients.

The other computer contained detailed daily client schedules for each sex worker, recording the contact numbers of sex workers and their clients.