The Judiciary Police (PJ) picked up five men from Hubei province on Monday on suspicion of pimping and human trafficking involving a minor.
PJ spokesman Choi Iat Peng said at a special press conference on Monday, while patrolling in Cotai, Public Security Police (PSP) officers came across a 14-year-old mainland girl they believed to be a sex worker.
The PSP referred the case to the PJ officers who quickly discovered that a 26-year-old man, surnamed Wang, had been searching for young women in the mainland who he then persuaded, including the 14-year-old girl, to come to Macau with the promise of earning quick money.
Wang also recruited four other men from the central province, aged between 22 and 26, to look for potential clients in Macau through WeChat and in Cotai hotels. Choi said the group had been in operation for three months, adding other than the 14-year-old girl, they also managed to rescue a 20-year-old mainland woman forced into prostitution.
Both females charged clients between HK$1,000 and HK$ 5,000 per sex service, receiving about 35 percent of the “fee.” The remaining 65 percent went to the kingpin who would pay 20 percent of that amount to whoever of his four accomplices had found the respective client.
Choi said like other non-local sex workers, both would be sent back to where they came from.
Choi added that the five men would be sent to the Public Prosecution Office (MP) for possible arraignments on pimping, human trafficking and organised crime membership charges. (macaunews/macaupost)
