63 arrested during operation against cross-border sex worker gang, where the mastermind worked in Hong Kong

A joint operation by law enforcement agencies from Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China has resulted in the arrest of 63 people for allegedly operating a cross-border prostitution ring, the mastermind and core members of which were nabbed in the city.

Chief Inspector Tang Hoi-tung of the Organized Crime and Triad Bureau said on Friday that officers in Hong Kong had arrested a man and two women aged 24 to 63.

“The force would like to warn criminals that joining forces with syndicates from other locations to spread criminal activities will not be able to evade police investigation,” Tang said.

The officer said the cross-border prostitution ring operated with a special website promoting details of mainland prostitution groups or individual sex workers.

A source familiar with the case told the Post that the 62-year-old local man arrested was a mastermind in the syndicate, while the two women were his older sister and niece respectively, both core members of the gang.

The man was arrested on suspicion of laundering more than HK$1.4 million (US$180,120) in alleged criminal proceeds, and living off the earnings of sex workers, with the latter offense also applying to the two women.

The trio would be responsible for running and managing the website, including publishing advertisements for sex workers and handling customer queries.