Authorities in Taiwan and the US recently busted an international prostitution ring, and arrested three Taiwanese allegedly involved in trafficking women from Taiwan to the US and other countries.
The Criminal Investigation Bureau in September last year received information from the American Institute in Taiwan on Taiwanese women allegedly involved in prostitution in the US, Lee Yang-chi (李泱輯), an officer in the bureau’s International Criminal Affairs Division, told a news conference in Taipei on Thursday.
The bureau’s investigation led to the detention of three Taiwanese in Taipei earlier this month, including the alleged ring leader, a 31-year-old woman surnamed Lin (林), Lee said. Investigators found a guidebook on US immigration procedures and accounting books at Lin’s residence, he added.
The three allegedly used social media to recruit women, promising high salaries, Lee said.
About 50 women, aged 25 to 35, were sent to California to engage in prostitution from 2018 to early last year, investigators said.
According to Lin’s records, the women received about NT$7,000 per customer, investigators said.
The ring had also sent women to Canada and Australia, Lee said.
The detainees, who have posted bail of NT$50,000 to NT$150,000, would likely be charged for breaching the Act on Offenses Against Sexual Morality (妨害風化罪), Lee said.
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