Hundreds nabbed in anti-vice dragnet

KUALA LUMPUR: In a massive operation launched to counter vice activities, police nabbed 315 guest relations officers (GRO), masseurs and pimps at dozens of massage parlours, hotels and entertainment centres nationwide last week.
Led by the elite federal police unit, the Special Task Force for Anti-Vice, Gambling and Gangsterism (STAGG) and assisted by state police, the operators of dozens of such centres, many running on the guise of being a legitimate business, were caught by surprise when the crack teams barged into their premises and carried out checks.
The evidence was glaring at 55 targeted centres when investigators found the sexily clad women in possession of vice trade paraphernalia such as condoms and personal lubricants.
Raids in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Johor made up to more than two-thirds of the total number of busts recorded.
Head of the federal police anti-vice, gaming and secret society assistant director SAC Datuk Rohaimi Md Isa said of the 315 people held, 248 were women while 67 were men - all aged between 33 and 41.
He said more than two-thirds of women detained were Thais and Vietnamese while the rest are from China, Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia, Nigeria, India and Myanmar.
Among others detained were pimps and caretakers of the centres.
The operation was launched following intelligence reports of centres purportedly offering massage and health services were doubling as vice dens providing sexual services and "urut batin" - a massage for men involving the private organs that supposedly boosts virility.
Simultaneously, the raiding parties also went after illegal gambling dens where 227 people were detained and 1,058 gambling machines were seized.
In a Twitter message on Monday, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar congratulated the raiding team over the success of the operation.
In a separate message, Khalid commended the CID over the arrest of 877 suspected criminals under the Prevention of Crimes Act (POCA) between January and July 3 this year.
He said those detained are 111 secret society members, 280 suspects involved serious crimes, 443 suspects of property crimes and 25 suspects for human trafficking activities.
Selangor, Johor, Sarawak, Penang and Kuala Lumpur recorded the most number of individuals held under the law.
Khalid said detentions under Poca in the previous years were - 351 (2014), 809 (2015) and 1,132 (2016).