Four young Vietnamese have been detained for using social media and apps to offer prostitution brokerage, according to police in the northern city of Hai Phong. The suspects took advantage of several prominent social media sites and apps, including Facebook, Wechat, and Zalo, to upload obscene photos of sex workers, along with contact details of the pimps. The illicit operations were unearthed by cyber police forces under the management of the Ministry of Public Security.
According to officers, the suspects started offering their services in Hai Phong and later expanded them to other localities, including Hanoi and the northern provinces of Quang Ninh, Thai Binh, Nam Dinh, among others. After several months, the four suspects were arrested on April 4, as police swooped on a hotel in Le Chan District, catching Ngan red handed offering prostitution brokerage services to two clients.
Based on the preliminary statements of Ngan, police officers carried out an emergency search at the homes of the other three, confiscating a car of the Emgrand make, 21 mobile phones, and one laptop. Officers discovered over a hundred phone numbers and accounts on the social media sites that the suspects have created to conduct their unlawful activities. Duy Hung admitted at the police station that he and Ngan began their operation in October , primarily via Facebook.
The two later recruited Hai and Van Hung to be in charge of posting status updates to advertise their services and answering phone calls of clients. Meanwhile, Duy Hung and Ngan would directly escort sex workers to meet their customers at prearranged places. President-elect Donald Trump told Vietnam's prime minister he wanted to further strengthen fast-warming ties between the two countries.
Residents in the northern Vietnamese provinces of Lai Chau and Ha Giang are trying their best to help one another rebuild their lives after floods took a heavy toll on the two localities last month. Many sewers along the streets in Ho Chi Minh City have their entrances blocked by garbage on a regular basis, negatively impacting urban esthetics and the environment while helping cause serious flooding.
