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Here is a news story that may explain why one of your favorite lb disappeared without any trace. Not just Thai lbs were affected, but also Thai ggs. I heard rumours about this in the past, but it was unfortunate to have it confirmed. The good thing is this human trafficking ring is busted and the victims are now free to try and go back to a normal life. This was published in Coconuts last month.
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German federal police said they carried out the biggest raids in their history Wednesday against an alleged organized crime ring suspected of trafficking hundreds of women and transwomen from Thailand for prostitution.
The federal police force said in a statement that a record 1,500 officers swooped on more than 60 brothels and flats in 12 of Germany€™s 16 states. Prosecutors have 56 suspects in their sights, 41 of them women.
Authorities say a €œcore group€ of 17 suspects €œsmuggled Thai women and transsexuals into Germany with fraudulent€ visas for the passport-free Schengen zone.
Those brought to Germany €œhad to hand over 100 percent of their wages to the operators of the respective massage parlors to pay off their smuggling fee,€ an extortionate sum of between EUR16,000 and EUR36,000 euros (THB618,000 €“ THB1.4 million).
Seven of the accused, including a 59-year-old Thai woman and her 62-year-old German partner, were taken into custody on outstanding arrest warrants.
Beyond human trafficking, forced prostitution, procurement and embezzlement of wages, the ringleaders also face charges of tax evasion, a spokesman for the Frankfurt prosecutor€™s office, Alexander Badle, told reporters.
Some of the suspects could face up to 15 years in prison.
Prosecutors in Frankfurt, who have been working with police on the case since February 2017, estimate that the ring drew more than one million euros in income.
€˜Specialized€™ in transsexual prostitutes
Interior Minister Horst Seehofer praised the operation as an €œunprecedented strike against a national organized crime network€.
€œSeveral hundred women and men were at the mercy of the inhumane, boundless greed of human smugglers for years and across borders,€ he said.
€œThis unscrupulous behaviour and the sexual exploitation on an abominable scale were put to an end today.€
Badle said the ring had €œspecialized€ in a niche for transsexual prostitutes in Germany€™s vast sex industry.
He said that while the Thai victims were aware that they were being taken to German brothels, they were duped about the €œconditions, including the fact that they would receive virtually no remuneration€.
They were brought to Europe on tourist visas that explicitly prohibited work, and spoke no German, leaving them particularly vulnerable to exploitation, Badle added.
He said immigration authorities would now examine the victims€™ legal status to determine how long they could stay in Germany.
Prostitution is legal in Germany but heavily regulated and taxed. However a 2002 law intended to improve the legal footing for sex workers has failed to stamp out mass-scale trafficking.
Thailand has a famously permissive attitude toward transwomen, but the laws still refuse to recognize their sexual identity, rooting discrimination in the bureaucracy.
Sex work, drugs and stigma combine with a lack of healthcare to push many of the country€™s estimated 180,000 third sex people to the €œsocial, economic and legal margins,€ a 2012 study by the United Nations Development Program found.
It said HIV prevalence rates among transgender people across the Asia-Pacific region could be as high as 49 percent €” a rate that €œfar exceeds (that of) the general population€.
German federal police said they carried out the biggest raids in their history Wednesday against an alleged organized crime ring suspected of trafficking hundreds of women and transwomen from Thailand for prostitution.
The federal police force said in a statement that a record 1,500 officers swooped on more than 60 brothels and flats in 12 of Germany€™s 16 states. Prosecutors have 56 suspects in their sights, 41 of them women.
Authorities say a €œcore group€ of 17 suspects €œsmuggled Thai women and transsexuals into Germany with fraudulent€ visas for the passport-free Schengen zone.
Those brought to Germany €œhad to hand over 100 percent of their wages to the operators of the respective massage parlors to pay off their smuggling fee,€ an extortionate sum of between EUR16,000 and EUR36,000 euros (THB618,000 €“ THB1.4 million).
Seven of the accused, including a 59-year-old Thai woman and her 62-year-old German partner, were taken into custody on outstanding arrest warrants.
Beyond human trafficking, forced prostitution, procurement and embezzlement of wages, the ringleaders also face charges of tax evasion, a spokesman for the Frankfurt prosecutor€™s office, Alexander Badle, told reporters.
Some of the suspects could face up to 15 years in prison.
Prosecutors in Frankfurt, who have been working with police on the case since February 2017, estimate that the ring drew more than one million euros in income.
€˜Specialized€™ in transsexual prostitutes
Interior Minister Horst Seehofer praised the operation as an €œunprecedented strike against a national organized crime network€.
€œSeveral hundred women and men were at the mercy of the inhumane, boundless greed of human smugglers for years and across borders,€ he said.
€œThis unscrupulous behaviour and the sexual exploitation on an abominable scale were put to an end today.€
Badle said the ring had €œspecialized€ in a niche for transsexual prostitutes in Germany€™s vast sex industry.
He said that while the Thai victims were aware that they were being taken to German brothels, they were duped about the €œconditions, including the fact that they would receive virtually no remuneration€.
They were brought to Europe on tourist visas that explicitly prohibited work, and spoke no German, leaving them particularly vulnerable to exploitation, Badle added.
He said immigration authorities would now examine the victims€™ legal status to determine how long they could stay in Germany.
Prostitution is legal in Germany but heavily regulated and taxed. However a 2002 law intended to improve the legal footing for sex workers has failed to stamp out mass-scale trafficking.
Thailand has a famously permissive attitude toward transwomen, but the laws still refuse to recognize their sexual identity, rooting discrimination in the bureaucracy.
Sex work, drugs and stigma combine with a lack of healthcare to push many of the country€™s estimated 180,000 third sex people to the €œsocial, economic and legal margins,€ a 2012 study by the United Nations Development Program found.
It said HIV prevalence rates among transgender people across the Asia-Pacific region could be as high as 49 percent €” a rate that €œfar exceeds (that of) the general population€.
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