TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Thai woman at the center of an international human-trafficking investigation was arrested in Taiwan and is being held in New Taipei.
The 29-year-old woman is wanted by Thai and Japanese authorities for abandoning her 12-year-old daughter at a Tokyo massage parlor. The woman is reportedly part of an international prostitution ring, and the daughter was forced to provide sexual services for clients at the parlor in Tokyo’s Bunkyo Ward, reported LTN.
Japanese police arrested the owner of the massage parlor on Nov. 5 for violating the Labor Standards Act by employing underage workers, reported Asahi Shimbun. The daughter reportedly informed Japanese police that her mother was in Taiwan.
When Japanese authorities contacted Taiwan’s National Immigration Agency about the case, the mother was already in custody on suspicion of engaging in prostitution. She was arrested during a prostitution sting in Taoyuan and is being held by the NIA for overstaying a tourist visa.
The girl was reportedly attending school in Thailand before her mother took her to Japan in June and forced her into prostitution. In September, the girl asked a male client to help her contact Japanese immigration authorities, who then launched the investigation, per LTN.
Immigration authorities discovered that the mother has lived abroad for extended periods, with frequent stays in Japan, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Taiwan authorities are coordinating with Thai and Japanese law enforcement to examine the international prostitution networks she may have been involved with.
Japan plans to expedite the victim’s return to Thailand. Thai authorities have requested Taiwan promptly extradite the mother to Thailand, where she will face criminal prosecution.
The head of Thailand’s anti-human trafficking police agency, Wittaya Sriprasertphap, said an investigation will be launched given the case’s international scope and complexity. Thai police are awaiting detailed reports from Japanese authorities to determine applicable charges and identify all parties involved, reported Bangkok Post.
Taiwan’s National Police Agency and the Criminal Investigation Bureau are consulting with the NIA on the woman’s possible connection to international human trafficking networks. However, the NIA plans for the mother to be deported to Thailand to face prosecution in the near future, per LTN.
