TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Police in Kaohsiung’s Xinxing District, acting on an anonymous tip, raided a massage parlor and arrested 15 people for crimes related to operating a brothel and engaging in prostitution on Friday evening (June 23).
After monitoring a commercial building on Qixian Road, in central Kaohsiung, until around 8 p.m., officers raided a massage parlor on the sixth floor, and charged everyone present with violating the Social Order Maintenance Law, reported LTN. Police arrested 12 Vietnamese women, aged between 25 and 42, along with two male customers aged 27 and 41, plus one male, aged 26, who is allegedly responsible for operating the brothel.
UDN reported that among the 12 Vietnamese nationals, eight entered Taiwan on tourist visas. The other four are migrant workers who left their place of employment, with one reportedly missing for over two and a half years.
Reports indicate the illegal business was charging NT$3,100 (US$100) for sexual services, with the brothel taking NT$600 (US$19) per transaction.
The commercial building where the brothel was located is well-known for such illegal business activity. Brothels and prostitutes often move between floors to evade detection by the authorities, per UDN.
A special task force has taken the Vietnamese women into custody, where they await deportation back to Vietnam. The cases of the three Taiwanese men arrested have been transferred to the Kaohsiung District Prosecutor’s Office.
