Nine
Vietnamese arrested in human-trafficking case
Deutsche Presse-Agentur
(Hanoi - March
28, 2006, Tuesday) Police in southern Vietnam arrested nine people on suspicion
of running a prostitution ring while masquerading as marriage brokers,
authorities said Tuesday.
Three people, including a married couple, were arrested as they were about to
board a flight to Taiwan at Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City.
Another six were arrested at homes throughout the city, according to Nguyen Van
Be Hai of the Tien Giang provincial police.
Hai said investigators found 34 women at the houses, ages 18 to 21, most of them
from Tien Giang province, 100 kilometres south of Ho Chi Minh City.
"The girls said they were waiting to be taken to Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia and
Hong Kong to get married to local men," Hai said by telephone, "but we suspect
that most of the girls will be taken to brothels in these countries."
Police are investigating how many other women had already been sent abroad in
the scheme, he added.
Vietnam estimates that thousands of women each year are trafficked to foreign
countries for arranged marriages and prostitution.
Vietnamese law carries prison terms of up to 20 years for human trafficking. dpa
kj tl
Copyright
2006 Deutsche Presse-Agentur