Malaysian police detain couple on sex-trafficking suspicions

Oct 9, 2009, 9:48 GMT

   Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian police have detained a couple for allegedly being involved in a syndicate that duped hundreds of women into becoming sex workers in Australia and Europe, a news report said Friday.

   A 44-year-old man and his 55-year-old girlfriend were taken into custody during a raid Thursday at an apartment in Kuala Lumpur, Hadi Ho Abdullah, deputy director of the federal police crime investigation department, told the Star daily.

   The suspects allegedly promised their victims, who were primarily women in their 20s, lucrative jobs abroad but instead sold them as sex workers, the newspaper said.

   During the raid, eight local women and a Chinese national who were found in the apartment were rescued by police.

   'Initial investigations revealed that the duo, who have been operating for at least a year, made a profit of more than 1 million ringgit [303,000 dollars] thus far,' Hadi was quoted as saying.

   The syndicate produced forged visas, passports and other documents for the victims, he said.

   Hadi said police have not ruled out the possibility that the smuggling syndicate was working with officers from the immigration department or other government agencies, adding that investigations would be conducted to ascertain the details.