Virgin-sale network broken up
HANOI - Viet police said they had made 25 arrests and broken up a network that sold virgins to Taiwan or to expatriates living in Vietnam.
The arrests were made after a raid on a hotel in the southern business capital of Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday, during which two 19-year-old women, both virgins, were caught in bed with two Taiwanese men.
The women were arrested, and the Taiwanese nationals were given a warning. A raid was then carried out on the house of a married couple, the ringleaders of the network which specialised in persuading women to sell their virginity for 200 dollars, a police spokesman said.
Police said the couple confessed that they had sold dozens of women, most of them virgins, to Taiwan to work as prostitutes since the network began operating at the start of the year.
Four pimps and 17 women aged between 16 and 19, who were working as prostitutes for the network, were also detained on Wednesday, police said.
Along with the two women caught in bed with the Taiwanese men, the 17 sex workers were sent to detention centres set up to "reform" prostitutes. The pimps and the two ringleaders remain in police custody, police said.
Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, has a reputation for raunchy entertainment that dates back to the Vietnam War era.
Although technically illegal, prostitution is rife in Vietnam. Many karaoke bars, barber shops, massage parlours and hotels are fronts for brothels and are able to ply their trade after paying off local officials and police.
Agence France Presse - December 05, 2003.
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