The Singapore Police Force (‘SPF’), in collaboration with Hong Kong Police Force (‘HKPF’), have jointly arrested four men and ten women, aged between 24 and 44, in a cross-border operation targeting vice-related activities between 4 November 2024 and 20 November 2024.
During the 17-day operation, officers from the Criminal Investigation Department (‘CID’), in collaboration with HKPF, conducted raids at 13 locations in Singapore and Hong Kong, resulting in the arrest of eight vice abettors and six vice workers.
During the operation in Singapore, mobile phones and vice-related paraphernalia were seized. A 33-year-old man who allegedly operated an online vice syndicate, was arrested under the Women’s Charter 1961. Investigations against the other three vice workers aged between 24 and 31 are ongoing.
The Police will continue to take tough enforcement action against those involved in syndicated vice activities. Under the Women’s Charter 1961,
- Any person who knowingly lives wholly or in part on the earnings of the prostitution of another person shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years and shall also be liable to a fine not exceeding S$100,000.
A person in or outside Singapore who, in the course of business, uses a remote communication service with a Singapore link that offers or facilitates the provision by a woman or girl to another person of sexual services in Singapore in return for payment or reward shall be liable to a fine not exceeding $100,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or to both.
1 Deputy Director CID, Assistant Commissioner (AC) Yeo Yee Chuan expressed his appreciation to all SPF and HKPF officers involved for their professionalism and excellent teamwork during the operations. He said, “The anti-vice operations are part of Police’s ongoing efforts to keep Singapore safe and secure. Vice syndicates leverage technology to facilitate their operations and extended their reach across national borders. Their modus operandi is becoming increasingly sophisticated, and they operate their activities remotely, often from overseas. Partnering with foreign law enforcement agencies, the community and members of the public, Police will continue to tackle vice-related activities, and will spare no effort to clamp down and take tough enforcement actions against vice syndicates.”
Head Organised Crime and Triad Bureau of HKPF, Chief Superintendent Simon Kwan, expressed his appreciation to SPF’s collaborative effort in this joint operation to target transnational vice syndicates. He stated that the successful cross-border operations reflect the commitment by HKPF and SPF to crack down on organised criminal groups, regardless of where they are based.
[SPF officers during enforcement operations ▼]
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
21 November 2024 @ 3:00 PM