Cross-strait prostitution bust leads to key arrest
Staff Reporter 2013-09-22 14:43
Agents from Taiwan's National Immigration Agency take Lu and fellow accomplices into custody on Sept. 17. (Photo/China Times)
Police in Taiwan and China have made progress in addressing the cross-strait sex trade after a bust that led to the arrest of a woman believed to be an important player in a major prostitution ring — involving over 300 girls from China, reports our sister paper China Times.
According to reports, the 65-year-old woman surnamed Lu worked as an evaluator, finding the girls and deciding their "price" according to their body shape, skin, and other features.
Lu, who was said to have worked in the business for over 20 years, was part of the prostitution ring arranging for the girls to come to Taiwan. She reportedly advised those within the ring to pretend that the girls brought over from China were Taiwanese and arranged for them to undergo plastic surgery.
Taiwan's National Immigration Agency, which participated in the recent crackdown and subsequent arrest, found that many of the women involved in the sex trade came to Taiwan under the guise of getting married to Taiwanese nationals or for business research. The Taiwanese agency, together with Beijing and Fujian public security bureaus, arrested 11 suspects including Lu, a broker, an accountant, drivers and six female sex workers from China.
