HCMC POLICE DISCUSS RECENT TIP RING BUST

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 000437

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PREL CVIS KWMN TIP ELAB SMIG SOCI TW VM
SUBJECT: HCMC POLICE DISCUSS RECENT TIP RING BUST

REF: 05 HCMC 1299

HO CHI MIN 00000437 001.2 OF 002



1. (SBU) Summary: On April 18, PolOffs met with HCMC Ministry of
Public Security officials to review details of a late March
police sweep against an international Trafficking in Persons
ring that operated in HCMC and the Mekong Delta. Police
confirmed that 39 young women from southern Vietnam rescued
during the sweep were intended to be sold to brothels in
Malaysia. They are working with Malaysian authorities to
identify and rescue the 100 other women the ring reportedly
trafficked to Malaysia. The MPS officials indicated that the
ring also may have been involved in trafficking women onwards to
Taiwan or other Asian destinations. The MPS officials
acknowledged that they are working to strengthen shortcomings in
their approach to TIP and said they are looking for greater
cooperation with the United States in this regard. End Summary.


Background
--------------


2. (SBU) In late March, the HCMC press reported that HCMC
Ministry of Public Security (MPS) officials and police
representatives of the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang had
raided five locations in HCMC and arrested ten individuals
suspected of running an international trafficking in persons
ring to Malaysia. The press reported that 40 women who were
about to be trafficked to Malaysia under the guise of export
laborers were rescued.

Meeting with MPS
--------------


3. (SBU) On April 18 PolOffs met with MPS Colonel Hoang Tan
Viet, Deputy Director of Criminal Police, and senior TIP
investigators at the MPS Southern Command headquarters. Viet
noted that TIP is an increasing concern for Vietnam, both at the
national level and in the provinces. He said that, at a
minimum, "tens of thousands" of Vietnamese women and children
have been trafficked over the years. The vast majority of the
victims are from poor rural areas; in southern Vietnam, they are
mostly from the Mekong Delta and Tay Ninh Province. A small
proportion are trafficked into prostitution networks in HCMC and
other major urban centers, but the bulk are trafficked overseas.
Cambodia, Thailand and China are the principal destinations,
but many women and children also are trafficked to Hong Kong,
Malaysia, Macau, and Taiwan, for prostitution and forced labor
in those countries or to be sold and smuggled to other
destinations. Viet said that, according to MPS statistics, from
1999-2002, Vietnamese police had prosecuted 1,818 criminal cases
of trafficking nationwide, involving 3,118 suspects. He did not
offer more recent statistics in his presentation.

The Malaysian TIP Ring
--------------


4. (SBU) Viet confirmed that HCMC, Tay Ninh and Tien Giang
provincial police had conducted coordinated raids in HCMC to
break an international TIP ring. Police apparently learned of
the operation from a few victims who had escaped forced
prostitution in Malaysia, returned to the Mekong Delta and filed
a police complaint. During the raids in HCMC, ten persons were
arrested, including Tsii Sien, a Taiwanese citizen (spelling of
name as given). However, police officials believe the group is
much bigger. They are pursuing additional suspects, including a
Malaysian suspect still at large. (Note: Colonel Viet gave us
the names, dates of birth, and addresses of the 10 arrestees,
which we have passed to the Consular Section for possible entry
into the CLASS visa lookout system. End Note.) In the course
of the investigation, MPS confiscated 51 passports, 57 family
registration books, 33 Vietnamese ID cards, 21 birth
certificates, mobile phones, motor bikes, and Vietnamese,
Taiwanese, Malaysian and U.S. currency. The authenticity of the
civil documents is being analyzed by MPS forensic units. Viet
noted parenthetically that forgery and document counterfeiting
operations in Vietnam have become more sophisticated.


5. (SBU) According to Viet, 39 Vietnamese women, aged 16 to 28,
were rescued during the police operation. They all were from
poor families in the Mekong Delta or Tay Ninh Province. They
apparently were lured to HCMC by promises of lucrative overseas
work. Viet said that they were not/not aware that, once in
Malaysia, they would be sold to brothels to become sex slaves.
In HCMC, the girls had been housed together while gang members
secured passports and documentation for transshipment to
Malaysia. All the women have now been returned to their
families.


6. (SBU) Viet said that the ten suspects admitted having
trafficked at least 100 Vietnamese women to Malaysia. Upon
arrival in Malaysia, members of the ring would shop the victims
from brothel to brothel until a sale was made, a process that

HO CHI MIN 00000437 002.2 OF 002


took about a week. Given the arrest of a Taiwanese national,
the MPS suspects that some of the victims may have been resold
to Taiwan; MPS is working with Taiwanese authorities to follow
up. MPS also is working with Malaysian Interpol to try and
identify, rescue and repatriate victims in Malaysia. Viet was
hopeful that authorities might rescue the bulk of the women
trafficked by this ring; he noted that, unlike the trafficking
of Vietnamese women in mainland China, where women are widely
distributed across rural China, in Malaysia, the women appear to
have been sold to brothels in a relatively small urban area.

Taiwanese Brides, Tourism and Adoption
--------------


7. (SBU) Viet said that authorities are looking very carefully
at the phenomenon of Vietnamese women marrying Taiwanese men
(reftel). He said that, to the best of his knowledge, all
marriage arrangements inside Vietnam are proper and legal, even
though brides' families are paid up to USD 3000 during the
process. However, the Colonel said that he is concerned over
some reports that, once in Taiwan, women were sold into forced
labor or prostitution. (He did not elaborate.)


8. (SBU) Viet said that the MPS also believes that young
Vietnamese women are befriended by traffickers, invited to
travel overseas "for fun," and then lured to Taiwan, Macau,
Malaysia, and Hong Kong where they are forced into prostitution.
He also indicated that Vietnamese women are going to Singapore
to practice prostitution, but did not state that these women
were trafficked.


9. (SBU) Viet noted that MPS also is investigating child
trafficking via adoptions. Police have information suggesting
that children have been legally adopted by foreigners in
Vietnam, but have been sold overseas. Viet said that no U.S.
adoptions were involved. He stated that MPS officials would be
willing to hold follow-up discussions with relevant ConGen staff
on the adoptions fraud issue.

Looking Ahead to More Cooperation?
--------------


10. (SBU) PolOff noted that one apparent weakness in the TIP
detection and enforcement system in Vietnam was the apparent
ease with which traffickers could obtain passports for women.
Viet acknowledged that MPS is conducting an internal review of
its TIP detection and interdiction efforts. He promised to
share the results of that review as well as the outcome of the
expanded investigation into the Malaysian trafficking ring.
Viet highlighted ongoing cooperation efforts with the Dutch,
Australian and French governments. He said MPS wants to nurture
a channel of cooperation with the USG to jointly combat TIP.


11. (SBU) Comment: Our lengthy and detailed discussion on TIP
-- and the promise of greater cooperation to come -- was the
warmest reception that we have ever received from the MPS in
HCMC. We will seek to build on this opening, which could lead
to expanded opportunities to assist Vietnamese authorities in
combating TIP, an issue of increasing concern -- and action --
for police and government officials in HCMC and the Mekong
Delta. End Comment.
WINNICK