From her home in an impoverished village in rural Bolivia, the prospect of quick riches as an escort girl proved impossible to resist for 23-year-old Patricia Suarez. A neighbour working for a Hong Kong gang suggested the trip, promising the young mother an escape from part-time work as a domestic servant that paid only US$50 (HK$387) a week. Desperate for money, the former university student left her two-month-old baby with her mother and six brothers and sisters - unaware she was heading for a nightmare trapped in a sleazy underworld. Ms Suarez speaks no English or Chinese. When she landed at Kai Tak airport last May she was met by another Bolivian woman who whisked her to a flat run by her pimp, known as Jacky. From there she was sent out to clients who had contacted the escort agency through adverts in pornographic magazines. At one point she became pregnant and an abortion was arranged by the gang. She was arrested on November 22, charged with robbery and spent four months in Tai Lam prison. She was acquitted yesterday and is due to be deported within days. Ms Suarez has no idea where to find the flat in which she was kept, so she cannot collect her clothes. She will fly home with $5,000 in her bag. It is a far cry from the fortune she dreamed of.
