63 arrested in crackdown on cross-border sex worker ring whose mastermind operated in Hong Kong

A joint operation by Hong Kong, Macau and mainland Chinese law enforcement has led to the arrest of 63 people on suspicion of running a cross-border prostitution ring, with its mastermind and key members caught in the city.

Police Chief Inspector Tan Hui-tung of the Organized Crime and Triads Bureau said on Friday that officers arrested one man and two women aged between 24 and 63 in Hong Kong.

“The force would like to warn criminals that joining forces with syndicates from other places to spread criminal activities will not escape police investigation,” Tan said.

The officer said the cross-border prostitution ring operated from a dedicated website that advertised groups of mainland prostitutes or individual sex workers.

A source familiar with the case told the Post that the 62-year-old local man arrested was the mastermind of the syndicate and 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 ($180,120) in suspected proceeds of crime and of living off the earnings of sex workers, with the latter offense also applicable to two women.

The trio were allegedly responsible for operating and managing the website, including publishing advertisements for sex workers and handling customer inquiries.