This is probably why service providers are vague.
Thursday, November 6, 2003
Human traffickers targeted
Calgary vice squad attacks prostitute pipeline starting in Asia and ending here
By MIKE D'AMOUR, CALGARY SUN
An arm of an underground human trafficking pipeline that allegedly conspired to ferry young prostitutes from Asia to work in Calgary bawdy houses has been severed by police.
"We have seen a marked increase in the number of Asian massage practitioners working in Calgary in the last three years, and we have some questions about how some of those persons have arrived in Canada," said Calgary Police Service Det. Cam Brooks of the vice unit.
The lengthy police investigation -- dubbed Operation Relaxation -- began in April 2002 and involved more than 20 Calgary police officers, who conducted dozens of covert operations, undercover stings and intelligence-gathering missions.
The investigation was capped yesterday after a specialized police team conducted an all-day operation, swooping down on more than a dozen massage parlours and common bawdy houses.
It was the largest bust of its kind in Calgary history.
The roughly 12-hour operation that involved cops, immigration officials and city inspectors resulted in at least 11 arrests.
Several charges were laid, including conspiracy to procure a person to enter Canada to work in a bawdy house, living on the avails of prostitution, keeping a common bawdy house and drug-related charges.
Further charges are pending.
The operation also sliced open and exposed the sordid underbelly of Calgary's underground prostitution racket.
The women of the current police focus are typically prostitutes working in Thailand -- where flesh peddling is legal -- and want to come to Canada to pursue a better life for themselves and their families, Brooks said.
"The problem is they can't get out of their country legally," said Brooks. That obstacle is easily overcome when bogus documents are obtained by Thai "agents" who charge $10,000 for the forged documents.
With visas in place, an "escort" takes the women to Canada, where they meet with a local flesh broker who buys out the contract at a cost of between $35,000 and $40,000.
That expenditure is then passed on to the prostitutes who must repay the debt to buy their freedom in their new country.
Police were allegedly able to arrange the purchase of Thai women through a Calgary broker, but did not follow through with the deal. Until yesterday's busts, police estimated between 60 and 80 Asian women -- from Thailand, Malaysia, Burma -- were illegally working in Calgary.
"Back in 2000 the majority of women in the massage parlours were Caucasian. Now you're hard-pressed to find any white girls there," Brooks said.
"Right now there are roughly 1,700 city-licensed massage practitioners and I'd say only a small percentage of them are legitimate."
Thursday, November 6, 2003
Human traffickers targeted
Calgary vice squad attacks prostitute pipeline starting in Asia and ending here
By MIKE D'AMOUR, CALGARY SUN
An arm of an underground human trafficking pipeline that allegedly conspired to ferry young prostitutes from Asia to work in Calgary bawdy houses has been severed by police.
"We have seen a marked increase in the number of Asian massage practitioners working in Calgary in the last three years, and we have some questions about how some of those persons have arrived in Canada," said Calgary Police Service Det. Cam Brooks of the vice unit.
The lengthy police investigation -- dubbed Operation Relaxation -- began in April 2002 and involved more than 20 Calgary police officers, who conducted dozens of covert operations, undercover stings and intelligence-gathering missions.
The investigation was capped yesterday after a specialized police team conducted an all-day operation, swooping down on more than a dozen massage parlours and common bawdy houses.
It was the largest bust of its kind in Calgary history.
The roughly 12-hour operation that involved cops, immigration officials and city inspectors resulted in at least 11 arrests.
Several charges were laid, including conspiracy to procure a person to enter Canada to work in a bawdy house, living on the avails of prostitution, keeping a common bawdy house and drug-related charges.
Further charges are pending.
The operation also sliced open and exposed the sordid underbelly of Calgary's underground prostitution racket.
The women of the current police focus are typically prostitutes working in Thailand -- where flesh peddling is legal -- and want to come to Canada to pursue a better life for themselves and their families, Brooks said.
"The problem is they can't get out of their country legally," said Brooks. That obstacle is easily overcome when bogus documents are obtained by Thai "agents" who charge $10,000 for the forged documents.
With visas in place, an "escort" takes the women to Canada, where they meet with a local flesh broker who buys out the contract at a cost of between $35,000 and $40,000.
That expenditure is then passed on to the prostitutes who must repay the debt to buy their freedom in their new country.
Police were allegedly able to arrange the purchase of Thai women through a Calgary broker, but did not follow through with the deal. Until yesterday's busts, police estimated between 60 and 80 Asian women -- from Thailand, Malaysia, Burma -- were illegally working in Calgary.
"Back in 2000 the majority of women in the massage parlours were Caucasian. Now you're hard-pressed to find any white girls there," Brooks said.
"Right now there are roughly 1,700 city-licensed massage practitioners and I'd say only a small percentage of them are legitimate."