FOUR women who were forced into prostitution after illegally entering Hong Hong from China were rescued yesterday from a Mongkok flat.
Officers of the Kowloon West regional special duties squad raided the five-bedroom flat on the first-floor of Sai Yee Street, and rescued the women, aged between 18 and 23. Two men were arrested.
The operation followed the escape of three other mainland women from the vice den last week. They were arrested after going to Xinhua (the New China News Agency) headquarters in Happy Valley for help.
Police said the racket, controlled by alleged Wo Shing Wo triads, enticed mainland women to the territory by promising jobs.
'When they arrived in Hong Kong about 10 days ago, they were detained in a flat and forced to take at least 10 clients a day,' said Detective Inspector Lillian Shek Lai-ling.
'They were told they would receive $100 per customer, but they would not be paid until they had served about 700 clients and paid back the cost of smuggling them into the territory.' The women, who worked as waitresses and factory workers in China, were charged $7,000 each for the trip to Hong Kong.
