Prostitution syndicate in Terengganu using WeChat busted

A prostitution syndicate hiring foreigners and using the WeChat application in its operations was busted in an 'Op Noda' operation at a hotel in this coastal city on Oct 24.

State CID chief, ACP Fazlisyam Abdul Majid said three local men, aged between 19 and 38, and a Vietnamese woman, aged 18, were arrested in the 12.30am raid.

"The syndicate had been operating for a week here and using six different WeChat accounts to get clients from around the city for the sex services offered.

"Our initial investigation found that prior to this, the syndicate was being hunted down in Kedah and Kuala Lumpur, and would only be operating in a location for a week or two before moving to another.

'The Vietnamese woman detained in our operation is believed to be a victim of human trafficking and is now placed under police protection to assist in the investigation," he told reporters, here, on Thursday.

Fazlisyam said during the raid, police found condoms, and seized a van and RM380 in cash, believed to be proceeds from the sex services offered to clients.

"All the suspects are being remanded since Oct 24 until 29 and the case is being investigated under the Anti-Human Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007," he said.

Meanwhile, Fazlisyam said Terengganu police had issued a list of another 50 wanted individuals, aged between 16 and 49, via Facebook to assist in the investigations into several crime cases.

He said since police started using Facebook in September to trace wanted individuals, about 20 per cent or over 100 out of 600 on the wanted list had been detected to facilitate the investigations.

"The success has also been due to public cooperation by channelling information to police. Therefore, this programme will continue until police manage to solve all the cases involving the wanted individuals," he added.

-- BERNAMA