Dozens detained as police launch new operation against sex trade in Dongguan
Dozens of suspects were detained at a hotel and a night club in Dongguan last week for alleged involvement in the sex trade.
Dozens of suspects were detained at a hotel and a night club in Dongguan last week for alleged involvement in the sex trade, local police said.
Police launched a sudden raid on the hotels – Junhao Hotel and the Shengshigechao club in the city centre – on October 16 and 17.
Officers took away a total of 60 suspects, the Guangzhou-based New Express reported.
The two hotels have been ordered to close until April next year and will each be fined up to 20,000 yuan.
Thousands of saunas, massage parlours and hotels in the city were closed down during a crackdown on prostitution that kicked off in February.
About 2,700 of the businesses were allowed to reopen in late July after their operators had signed a pledge to police promising not to get involved in gambling, drugs or other crime.
The huge operation against the sex trade was triggered by a report in February on state television accusing the city authorities of allowing a huge sex industry to flourish in the manufacturing hub’s hotels and bath houses.
Police in Dongguan said they had detained 1,552 people during the crackdown as of July, including 77 accused of running a prostitution business.
Dozens of police officials in Dongguan, including Yan Xiaokang, the former deputy mayor and head of the city’s public security bureau, have been suspended or removed from office on suspicion of protecting prostitution businesses.
It is unclear exactly how many people work in the sex industry in Dongguan. Local analysts estimate there were more than 250,000 prostitutes at one point, and the business generated about 50 billion yuan a year before the crackdown.
