A 52 year-old woman is among 24 mainland Chinese women arrested by Hong Kong police in a flurry of prostitution sweeps performed around the city yesterday.
Special task force officers working in conjunction with border police targeted 9 areas of the city for crimes of prostitution. Portland Street, Nanking Street, Shanghai Street, Kansu Street, and all of Tsim Sha Tsui were among the locations targeted by police.
The suspects, ranging in age from 23 to 52, will later be handed over to immigration authorities. All of them are mainland Chinese citizens holding an Exit-Entry Permit for travel to Hong Kong, but they all exceeded their stays.
Prostitution stings that have rounded up suspects from mainland China are common in Hong Kong. A pre-Christmas sting caught 58 suspects (below), the oldest of which was 65. Police operations last July netted a total of 23 suspects. The most recent arrests came this past March when 38 suspects were arrested for sex crimes, of which 34 were mainland Chinese women.
