Source: NP
# But 9 HK syndicate members arrested in massive police raid
# Woman boss linked to at least $5m in earnings from
prostitution
SHE is 39 years old and allegedly runs a multi-million dollar
prostitution racket.
Yesterday, her shady career came to light after Hong Kong police
held an island-wide raid on brothels and prostitution dens.
But the alleged female kingpin, known as Lee, escaped a police raid
involving more than 300 officers.
The police swooped down on dozens of brothels and apartments during
a massive anti-vice operation named Operation Backrunner.
According to Hong Kong's Apple Daily, Lee was seen leaving a
building in Tsim Sha Tsui after an intensive police stakeout in the
area's crowded streets.
The woman, a former mainlander who is now a Hong Kong resident, is
believed to be the syndicate leader of a cross-border prostitution
racket.
Using online cyber brothels, it is involved in recruiting and
trafficking young sex workers from China.
The heart of the operation is believed to be on the 5th floor of a
Tsim Sha Tsui building, where detectives seized computers and
camera surveillance equipment.
SIMULTANEOUS RAIDS
The police launched simultaneous raids across Hong Kong yesterday
as part of a 10-month investigation, which focused on organised
crime syndicates involved in trafficking women for
prostitution.
At the height of the raids, at 4.15 pm, one suspect tried to escape
by climbing out of the seventh-floor window of a brothel.
COAXED INTO CUSTODY
After a 10-minute standoff with police - while precariously perched
more than 40m above the ground - the man was coaxed back into the
building and taken into custody.
'He was obviously trying to escape when he went out the window,'
said Superintendent Mike Howard of Crime Kowloon West Headquarters,
who headed the operation.
'But he is now safe and in our custody.'
His role in the syndicate will become clearer over the next few
days.
Criminal intelligence officers, following the money trail of
suspected organised crime bosses, have linked Lee to at least HK$35
million ($5m) in cash and property - believed to be the proceeds of
prostitution.
Yesterday, they served 75 warrants on various premises, seizing
financial records, bank accounts and cash.
Nine people were arrested last night, and further arrests are
expected today.
Mr Howard said officers have identified 14 key members of the
syndicate, other than the female kingpin, who are believed to have
been living off the earnings of prostitution.
The syndicate was attempting to exploit a loophole in the law known
as the 'one woman/one apartment rule'.
The rule allows one sex worker to work on her own, he said.
CUBICLE BROTHELS
But investigations had found the syndicate head owned at least 15
premises that had been subdivided into cubicles which were then
used as brothels.
The syndicate allegedly recruits young sex workers from the
mainland, arranges for their travel and permits, houses them, and
collects their share of the daily earnings.
