香港警方捣毁跨境卖淫集团：20人被捕年龄最大86岁 逾千万港元涉案款项被冻结
香港警方近日展开代号"凌翼"的行动，在深水埗、荃湾、屯门、元朗和沙田五区同步执法，捣毁一个跨境卖淫集团，共拘捕20人，年龄介乎20岁至86岁。
被捕的20人中包括16名性工作者、一名65岁的泰国籍女主脑及多名骨干成员；20人中1男19女，4人持有香港身份证，2人持有担保书（"行街纸"），其余14人持东南亚国家护照。警方指，集团骨干多为移居香港多年的东南亚人士，其中一名86岁的本地男子有黑社会背景，主要负责洗钱。
警方表示，该集团利用两地人脉网络和语言优势，在泰国物色目标，以来港"打工赚钱"诱骗女子来港。女子抵港后才发现，必须先提供30至45次无偿性服务，以抵消交通和住宿费用，其后的收入还要与集团五五分成。卖淫场所设在深水埗和荃湾的老式住宅楼宇内，每名女子每天接客8至9人，每次收费300港元，所得款项不能自行保留，须交予集团。行动中，警方检获约10万港元现金，以及大量安全套、润滑剂、一次性毛巾、床垫床架、多部手机及账簿等证物。警方指，该集团过去数年清洗了超过1000万港元的犯罪收益，有关款项目前已被冻结。
据报道，警方采取拘捕行动时，该集团正从机场带新一批泰国籍女子前往卖淫场所，此次行动阻止了更多女性被贩运和剥削。
Hong Kong Police Smash Cross-Border Prostitution Syndicate Trafficking Women from Thailand; 20 Arrested, Over HK$10 Million Frozen
Hong Kong police have smashed a cross-border prostitution syndicate in an operation codenamed "Ling Yik", arresting 20 people aged between 20 and 86 in synchronized raids across five districts — Sham Shui Po, Tsuen Wan, Tuen Mun, Yuen Long and Sha Tin.
Those arrested include 16 sex workers, a 65-year-old Thai woman identified as the ringleader, and several core members. Of the 20 detainees, one is a man and 19 are women; four hold Hong Kong identity cards, two hold recognizance forms, and the remaining 14 hold passports from Southeast Asian countries. Police said many of the syndicate's core members are Southeast Asians who have lived in Hong Kong for years, and that an 86-year-old local man with a triad background was mainly responsible for laundering money.
According to police, the syndicate used its cross-border networks and language advantages to scout targets in Thailand, luring women to Hong Kong with promises of well-paid work. On arrival, the women learned they first had to provide 30 to 45 unpaid sex services to offset travel and accommodation costs, and afterwards split their earnings equally with the syndicate. The brothels operated in old residential buildings in Sham Shui Po and Tsuen Wan, where each woman received eight to nine clients a day at HK$300 per session, and all earnings had to be handed over to the syndicate.
During the operation, police seized about HK$100,000 in cash, along with large quantities of condoms, lubricants, disposable towels, mattresses and bed frames, multiple mobile phones and account books. Police said the syndicate had laundered more than HK$10 million in criminal proceeds over the past several years, and the funds have now been frozen.
Reports said that when police moved in, the syndicate was escorting a newly arrived group of Thai women from the airport to the brothel premises, and the operation prevented more women from being trafficked and exploited.
图片来源：深水埗基隆街街景（资料图片），该区为行动地点之一。图片来源：Wikimedia Commons，姒姓賢寧 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0 授权
