Police have shut down 37 vice establishments, 19 gambling dens and two smoking divans in an operation that saw 1,588 people arrested and a large amount of drugs, weapons, obscene and pirated discs, illicit oil, dutiable cigarettes, fake goods, and betting slips and chips seized.

Officers raided 3,119 locations, including discos, games centres, massage establishments and residential units, June 1 to 23, arresting 1,001 men and 587 women. Of them, 364 were Two-way Permit holders and 42 were illegal immigrants.

Police also conducted an operation against local vice syndicates which lured local girls to provide sex services in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Canada, the UK and Taiwan.

With the help of Hong Kong Police, Australian authorities recently arrested a Hong Kong couple in Melbourne who were suspected of luring and threatening Hong Kong girls to provide sex services in the country. They have been charged by Australian police with slavery offences and brought before the court.

On June 11 Hong Kong Police arrested a man and four women from five syndicates for trafficking in people from Hong Kong for sexual purposes.

Police also shut down a number of local vice syndicates which rented old residential flats out for prostitution services and advertised on websites for prostitutes. Twelve website staff members and four people who rented out the units were arrested on June 14.