A nine-month undercover operation led police to smash a triad gang and uncover its secret brothels that had been converted from two toilets and a shop in a Yuen Long shopping centre, police said on Thursday morning.
The operation ended with the arrest of 86 people, including an alleged faction leader.
The 150-sq-ft one-woman brothels, which also served as homes for mainland sex workers, were discovered on the second floor of a 15-storey block in Wang Fat Path during a police raid on Wednesday.
According to police, the brothels had been operating for about 10 months and were controlled by the Yuen Long faction of the 14K triad society, which recruited mainland women to work as prostitutes.
The shopping centre is on the first and second floors of the building. Police say the mall is very quiet, with most of its shops vacated.
“We believe the gang took advantage of this feature and converted the male and female toilets into vice establishments,” Chief Inspector Law Kwok-hoi of the New Territories North regional crime unit said.