Police rescue six Filipinas forced into prostitution, arrest three pimps

By KRISTY INUS, Straits Times, Aug 23, 2017

KOTA KINABALU: They were tempted to Malaysia with promises of jobs as waitresses, but the six Filipinas were instead cooped up in a house in Kampung Peringatan.

Every night, they were taken to entertainment outlets and hotels, where they forced to work as “guest relations officers”, selling their bodies.

Their nightmares came to an end on Tuesday, however, when police raided the house in Jalan Petagas and rescued the women, aged between 20 and 24.

The raid came about following a tip-off, and also saw the arrests of a 47-year-old man and two women aged 25 and 47, who were believed to have been acting as the foreigners’ “agents”.

“These victims arrived in Sabah between 15 days and four months ago, in different batches. Their ‘agents’ handled the transportation costs, including boat rides and land transportation.

“But upon arriving via Sandakan, Semporna and Tawau from Zamboanga, they were brought to the state capital and forced to work as GROs in entertainment outlets and hotels,” said district police chief Assistant Commissioner M. Chandra.

He said police obtained six-day remand orders against the trio who were arrested during the raid, adding that the case was being investigated under sections 12 and 13(e) of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007, for trafficking in persons and trafficking in persons for the purpose of exploitation by means of deception, respectively.

Chandra said police seized 10 mobile phones of various brands; cash in United States, Brunei and Singapore currencies; and, a Perodua Alza.