Singapore: Police arrest 15 people over vice syndicate, website advertising foreign female escorts

US investigators bust prostitution ring that enslaved hundreds of Thai women
A Thai go-go dancers waits for customers at Bangkok's normally packed Soi Cowboy red-light area just before curfew May 25, 2010. Bar owners and go-go dancers say a night-time curfew in the Thai capital has badly affected their business, with tourist scared off and expatriate customers staying home. REUTERS (Representational image)

Singapore police arrested 15 people on suspicion of being involved in a vice syndicate operating a foreign female escort website, following a two-day operation last Thursday and Friday.

On Wednesday, the police said in a press release that they carried out raids at locations including Beach Road, Jellicoe Road, Mayo Street, Tan Quee Lan Street and Raffles Boulevard and arrested 13 women and two men, aged between 20 and 25.

According to police, preliminary investigations have revealed that those arrested had operated a vice website featuring foreign female escorts advertising sexual services.

The investigations against the women are still going on, while the two men have already been charged.

If found guilty of knowingly living wholly or in part on the earnings of the prostitution of someone else, the suspects could be jailed for up to five years and fined up to S$10,000.

On Mar 16, Singapore police arrested 16 women and five men on Thursday for a variety of offences, including vice activities, illegal gambling and work pass violations during enforcement checks on public entertainment outlets and massage parlours.

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