Human trafficking Thailand – Police have arrested a US citizen and five Thais on the charges of human smuggling on Monday.

The racket is involved in sending at least four Thai women to pimps in China. Authorities said they believe the arrested suspects are part of an international trafficking operation. The alleged suspects were arrested on Monday after one of the four women returned to Thailand and sought help from the Pavena Foundation for Children and Women.

The woman was lured into prostitution in the Chongqing, southwestern city of China. The victim told the police on her return that she pretended to be sick and had to return to Thailand for medical treatment. She also agreed to pay the gang 50,000 baht in exchange for her freedom.

Chinese police raided a brothel in Chongqing and rescued the three other women who were forced to sleep with clients. The raid was conducted after the first woman informed the authorities in Thailand about the illegal business.

The woman also told the police she was trapped into the prostitution business through a Facebook advertisement offering a well-paid job in a bar in Chongqing. After her arrival in China, she was accompanied by two men and was held in a four-storey building. She was not allowed to leave the building until she was permitted to return to Thailand.

Investigators believe that Singaporeans and Chinese nationals are also members of the gang luring women into prostitution in Malaysia and Singapore.

In a second case, US missionary was taken into custody in Chiang Mai on charges of smuggling seven North Korean nationals into Thailand. The suspect identified as Isaac Byungdo Lee was brought before the media at the Immigration Bureau in Nong Khai on Tuesday.

US human trafficking report published last month placed Thailand in Tier 3 while US and Cuba were removed from the recent list. IMAGE/bangkokpost