Busan police bust 27 sex trafficking suspects, including court official

BUSAN, Oct. 25 (Yonhap) -- Police in this southeastern port city have apprehended 27 sex trafficking suspects, including one identified as a court official, the local police agency said Monday.

The suspects are accused of operating 95 prostitution establishments in Busan and adjacent areas of Ulsan and South Gyeongsang Province, mediating prostitution over 8,800 times and taking 700 million won (US$599,000) in profits from March last year to last month, according to the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency.

Notably, a civil servant working as a security officer at a regional court was among the 27 arrested sex trafficking suspects, the agency said.

The court official is suspected of having run a prostitution establishment together with an acquaintance and at least two gangsters, and shared the profits after providing several tens of millions of won in initial funds.

The court official allegedly formed an alliance with other sex trafficking rings, shared police crackdown information and assaulted prostitutes in other areas, the agency said.

Police have seized 150 million won in criminal proceeds from the court official and his business partners, and notified the concerned court of his alleged crimes.

Police also said they have cracked down on three people on charges of operating prostitution advertisement sites and earning profits worth 1.1 billion won.

Of the 30 sex trafficking suspects busted in the latest police crackdown, seven have been put under pretrial detention, the police agency said.

ycm@yna.co.kr
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