Malaysian authorities raid 24-hour brothel

Fifteen foreign women and three men were arrested by officers from the Malaysian Immigration Department during a raid of a 24-hour brothel in Petaling district in Selangor, Malaysia, on Tuesday night.

After months of investigation, at 7 pm on February 21, 11 immigration officers stormed the premises in Bandar Puteri Puchong which had heavy security with remote controlled doors, CCTV cameras and employees looking out for authorities, the China Press reported.

Fifteen women from Vietnam and Indonesia were arrested for allegedly providing prostitution services, while three men – two Myanmar employees and a Malaysian man, believed to be the brothel supervisor – were also arrested. Preliminary investigations found that the brothel, where customers were charged 178 ringgit (US$44) each for a 45-minute session, operated 24/7 and used WeChat to communicate with customers. The customers were mostly foreign and came from Belgium, Iran, Japan and South Korea.

The prostitutes resided on the second floor, hidden behind a mirror to confuse law enforcement officers. The male workers were hired as lookouts to warn prostitutes and customers in case of trouble and turned off all the lights when officers entered the premises.

All the women arrested either had no legal identification documents or had overstayed in the country. They were being investigated under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007, while the 11 customers present were also issued notices to have their statements taken to assist in investigations.