Inter-agency op against vice and immigration offences nabs 85

They kept their heads bowed when they were led into the lounge of the karaoke bar.

Dressed in skintight clothes and tottering around in high heels, the women were among the 85 people, aged 15 to 71, arrested in a 41-hour inter-agency operation against vice and immigration offences.

Some 217 officers from the Singapore Police Force, Singapore Civil Defence Force, Immigration and Checkpoints Authority, and Central Narcotics Bureau took part in the operation that ended at 3am yesterday.

Spearheaded by the police, the operation covered at least nine locations, including HDB units and entertainment outlets.

The New Paper on Sunday joined the officers at 12.30am as they raided a KTV bar in Jurong. This reporter looked on as short-skirted women were herded into a lounge before the authorities checked their particulars.

In the last three hours of the operation, 36 women from Vietnam, China and Thailand, and two men were arrested.

The police arrested the women for allegedly keeping, managing or assisting in managing places where sex workers were assigned.

Both men were arrested for suspected drug-related offences.