KUALA LUMPUR: Six foreign women, believed to be victims of sex exploitation were rescued by the authorities following a raid at a three-storey shophouse in the city.
Immigration department director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh said the operation, which was aimed at curbing human trafficking and smuggling of migrants was conducted at about 10pm on Wednesday (Aug 28).
"We rescued five Vietnamese women and a Thai woman.
"We conducted the operation by identifying victims of trafficking and sex exploitation based on the National Guideline on Human Trafficking Indicators (NGHTI) 2.0," he said in a statement on Thursday (Aug 29).
Through a tip-off and subsequent intelligence gathering, the department also detained a local man, believed to be the person overseeing the prostitution syndicate at the premises, Ruslin said.
"The suspect was hired to manage the foreign women and make profits from them as sex workers," he said.
Ruslin said the syndicate would promise the women legitimate work but when they arrived in the country, they were exploited and forced into prostitution.
"The syndicate promoted the services of the women online, where the activity was carried out at the premises which was raided.
"They charged RM240 for an hour of sex service but the women would only get RM100 per customer.
"The women's movements are also limited and controlled by the local man where they were only allowed to order food via food delivery services," he said.
The case is classified under Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants (Atipsom) Act 2007, he said.
"We are looking into this case seriously and will conduct similar enforcement operations in the future.
"We also urge those with information on trafficking in persons to contact the department at 03-8880 1471 or email urusetia_p@imi.gov.my," he said.
