The Judiciary police (PJ) busted a prostitution ring on Friday, arresting a man and two women from northern Jilin Province for pimping and procuring minors for commercial sex, PJ spokesman Lei Chi Hou said during a regular press conference yesterday.
Lei identified the suspects as a 57-year-old female surnamed Liu, her 29-year-old daughter surnamed Li, and Li’s 20-year-old male second cousin surnamed Ma. All three claimed to be jobless. The victims are two girls, aged between 16 and 18, and a middle-aged woman, all from Jilin.
According to Lei, the Judiciary Police (PJ) received a referral on Friday from the Public Security Police (PSP) about a suspected “human trafficking” case. The middle-aged victim reported to the police that she had been hired by the prostitution ring comprising four members, including Liu, Li, Ma, and Li’s husband, who was still at large at the time of the press conference, to engage in prostitution in a hotel in Zape in mid-December. The ring rented the hotel guestroom for her for the purpose of engaging in prostitution there, also finding clients and providing condoms. Lei said that her clients paid about 1,000 patacas each time.
Lei noted that the middle-aged victim thought that the profit-sharing agreement was unreasonable and decided to leave the ring, attempting to run her business independently at the same location. However, she was stopped by the ring and assaulted by Li’s husband, sustaining injuries. She reported the case to the police early Friday morning. She also told the police about two minors who were also subjected to the ring’s prostitution arrangements in the same hotel. The police apprehended the trio separately at the hotel on Friday morning, and intercepted the two minors.
Lei added that the police discovered that the ring recruited women from Jilin to come to Macau to engage in prostitution. They arranged for the two minors to fly from Jilin to Macau in early and mid-December, respectively, with the ring covering the flight expenses. After each commercial sex transaction, the ring deducted 300 patacas from each transaction, which usually cost the client around 1,000 patacas. The minors were also forced to pay the airfares. The three victims provided sexual services to at least 30 male clients, resulting in an income of 30,000 patacas, while the ring’s illicit profit amounted to 19,000 patacas, Lei said.
The trio have been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing charges of controlling prostitutes, procuring minors for commercial sexual purposes, and their involvement in a criminal syndicate.
This undated handout photo provided by the Judiciary Police (PJ) yesterday shows Hong Kong and yuan banknotes, along with three smartphones seized from the prostitution ring.
