PUBLISHED ONBYSean LerA total of 195 individuals, including eight men and 187 women, have been arrested by the police for their alleged involvement in vice-related activities.
The police said on Sunday (Nov) that the suspects, aged between 18 and 63, were nabbed during coordinated raids at 61 locations across Singapore during anti-vice operations conducted between Sept 14 and Oct 30.
16 vice abettors were among those arrested.
The operation was carried out by officers from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) with support from seven police land divisions.
The raid targeted massage establishments, public entertainment outlets, beauty salons, hotels and residential units.
During the operations, the police seized mobile phones, computers, vice-related paraphernalia and cash amounting to more than $150,000.
Several bank accounts, containing more than $600,000, have also been frozen.
Following the operations, a 41-year-old man was on Oct 23 charged for his involvement in facilitating vice activities, while investigations against the remaining 194 suspects are ongoing.
Vice syndicates are not simply a vice problem, CID director Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police (SAC) Julius Lim said.
Their activities are often linked to other forms of criminality and pose broader threats to public safety and security, he pointed out.
"As these syndicates increasingly exploit technology and operate across borders, our enforcement efforts must keep pace, both at home and in coordination with foreign partners," SAC Lim said.
Those found guilty of offering or facilitating the provision by a woman or girl to another person of sexual services in Singapore in return for payment or reward could be jailed for up to five years, fined up to $100,000, or both.
The offence of procuring any woman for the purpose of prostitution; living wholly or in part on the earnings of the prostitution of another person; soliciting, receiving or agreeing to receive any gratification as an inducement or reward for providing any service, and who by providing that service does or will aid the prostitution of another person, carries a penalty of up to seven years' imprisonment and a fine of up to $100,000.
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