POLICE BUST MALAYSIA-LINKED TIP GANGS IN HCMC AND MEKONG

UNCLAS HO CHI MINH CITY 000090

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PREL CVIS KWMN TIP ELAB SMIG SOCI TW VM
SUBJECT: POLICE BUST MALAYSIA-LINKED TIP GANGS IN HCMC AND MEKONG
DELTA

REF: 06 HCMC 437


1. (SBU) On January 17, we called the senior HCMC Ministry
of Public Security official in charge of trafficking in
persons to discuss HCMC press reports that police broke up
two criminal rings trafficking Vietnamese women to Malaysia
for prostitution. According to the official, on January
10, police in Hau Giang Province in the Mekong Delta
arrested four individuals for trafficking at least thirty
Vietnamese women. Two of the suspects were from the Mekong
Delta city of Can Tho, one from the Central Highlands
province of Lam Dong Province, and one from Hau Giang. The
alleged ring leader, Nguyen Thi Tuyet Nga, was not among
those arrested. According to our contact, Nga resides in
Malaysia and periodically travels to Vietnam to recruit
young Vietnamese girls from the Mekong Delta region.
Vietnam Interpol has issued an international arrest warrant
for Nga and the GVN is working to secure the repatriation
of victims in Malaysia.


2. (SBU) According to the MPS official, the police were
able to act after five trafficking victims who escaped in
Malaysia returned to Vietnam and filed reports with local
authorities. These women reported that at least another
twenty five women were trafficked to Malaysia.


3. (SBU) The second set of arrests occurred in HCMC on
January 16 and led to the arrest of a ringleader Quan Chi
Phat and his accomplice Hua Hue Muoi, both ethnic Chinese
Vietnamese residents of HCMC. Phat was the ringleader,
whose cousin (nationality unknown) in Malaysia coordinated
operations on that end. The traffickers enticed their
targets with offers of overseas jobs that claimed to pay as
much as USD 1,000 per month. The women traveled to
Malaysia as tourists. During the search of the
traffickers' homes, police reportedly found numerous
documents belonging to the victims, including their
Vietnamese identification cards. According to our police
contact, the ringleaders confessed to trafficking thirty
women in 2003, but the investigation is ongoing to examine
if other, more recent, trafficking crimes were committed.


4. (SBU) According to the MPS official, most of the victims
of this ring were forced into sex work upon their arrival
in Malaysia. Malaysian brothels reportedly paid the ring
USD 8,000 for each woman. However, MPS officials noted
that their initial inquiries suggested that at least some
of the women found regular jobs on the local economy or
married Malaysians of their own volition.


5. (SBU) The MPS official said that police were able to act
after some victims stepped forward. Ten of the victims
apparently refused to "accept their fates." They were able
to contact relatives in Vietnam who, in turn, sought out
ringleader Quan Chi Phat. He allegedly charged the
relatives USD 1,000 each to secure the women's return.


6. (SBU) Comment: We are seeking meetings with MPS
officials in HCMC, Can Tho and Hau Giang to follow up on
these cases. From what we have gleaned thus far, they
appear similar to a March 2006 series of arrests (reftel),
in which HCMC police rescued up to 39 women who were about
to be trafficked internationally, principally to Malaysia.
The new arrests confirm that law enforcement authorities in
southern Vietnam are focusing more intently on combating
trafficking. In previous discussions, however, police have
complained that a lack of training and resources has
limited their ability to investigate trafficking cases as
effectively as they would like. These two cases, which
only could be cracked after some of the victims stepped
forward, seem to support the police's contention that they
could do more with additional support. End Comment.

WINNICK