The Judiciary Police (PJ) arrested a 28-year-old woman from Brazil, surnamed Costa, on Sunday on suspicion of human trafficking, in which a female compatriot in her twenties was allegedly duped into working as a pole dancer and prostitute instead of as a waitress.
A PJ spokesperson said at a press conference that in November last year the victim got to know a group of people in Rio de Janeiro who told her about a vacancy for a waitress in a bar in a Macau casino where she could earn up to HK$400,000 a month.
Interested in the job, the victim gave her personal information to the group and they arranged for her to come to Macau. She arrived here last week and Costa took her to a flat in Areia Preta where she would be living.
On Saturday, Costa took her to a night club in a hotel in the city centre and gave her some skimpy clothes to wear for the job interview, adding one nature of the job was to work as a pole dancer and have sex with clients if they requested. The interviewer was not at the club so the interview was postponed.
Realising something was wrong, the victim told Costa that she did not want to work there and wanted to return to Brazil. Costa allegedly threatened her and said her family back home would be killed. She allegedly also locked the victim in the Areia Preta flat but the victim managed to call the police when Costa was not around.
Costa was supposed to take the victim to the club again on Sunday for the job interview, but police officers arrested her shortly after the two left the flat.
The PJ spokesperson said Costa would be transferred to the Public Prosecution Office (MP) on possible arraignment on a human trafficking charge, adding that police officers were also looking for other suspects in the case. The spokesperson said while Costa said she was a student, police believe that she also worked in the club where the interview was to take place. (macaunews/macaupost)
