VZCZCXRO3865
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHNH RUEHPB
DE RUEHHM #0437/01 1151256
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 251256Z APR 06
FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0747
INFO RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI PRIORITY 0541
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 0780

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 000437 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL CVIS KWMN TIP ELAB SMIG SOCI TW VM
SUBJECT: HCMC POLICE DISCUSS RECENT TIP RING BUST 
 
REF: 05 HCMC 1299 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000437  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: On April 18, PolOffs met with HCMC Ministry of 
Public Security officials to review details of a late March 
police sweep against an international Trafficking in Persons 
ring that operated in HCMC and the Mekong Delta.  Police 
confirmed that 39 young women from southern Vietnam rescued 
during the sweep were intended to be sold to brothels in 
Malaysia.  They are working with Malaysian authorities to 
identify and rescue the 100 other women the ring reportedly 
trafficked to Malaysia.  The MPS officials indicated that the 
ring also may have been involved in trafficking women onwards to 
Taiwan or other Asian destinations.  The MPS officials 
acknowledged that they are working to strengthen shortcomings in 
their approach to TIP and said they are looking for greater 
cooperation with the United States in this regard.  End Summary. 
 
 
Background 
---------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  In late March, the HCMC press reported that HCMC 
Ministry of Public Security (MPS) officials and police 
representatives of the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang had 
raided five locations in HCMC and arrested ten individuals 
suspected of running an international trafficking in persons 
ring to Malaysia.  The press reported that 40 women who were 
about to be trafficked to Malaysia under the guise of export 
laborers were rescued. 
 
Meeting with MPS 
---------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) On April 18 PolOffs met with MPS Colonel Hoang Tan 
Viet, Deputy Director of Criminal Police, and senior TIP 
investigators at the MPS Southern Command headquarters.   Viet 
noted that TIP is an increasing concern for Vietnam, both at the 
national level and in the provinces.  He said that, at a 
minimum, "tens of thousands" of Vietnamese women and children 
have been trafficked over the years.  The vast majority of the 
victims are from poor rural areas; in southern Vietnam, they are 
mostly from the Mekong Delta and Tay Ninh Province.  A small 
proportion are trafficked into prostitution networks in HCMC and 
other major urban centers, but the bulk are trafficked overseas. 
 Cambodia, Thailand and China are the principal destinations, 
but many women and children also are trafficked to Hong Kong, 
Malaysia, Macau, and Taiwan, for prostitution and forced labor 
in those countries or to be sold and smuggled to other 
destinations.  Viet said that, according to MPS statistics, from 
1999-2002, Vietnamese police had prosecuted 1,818 criminal cases 
of trafficking nationwide, involving 3,118 suspects. He did not 
offer more recent statistics in his presentation. 
 
The Malaysian TIP Ring 
---------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Viet confirmed that HCMC, Tay Ninh and Tien Giang 
provincial police had conducted coordinated raids in HCMC to 
break an international TIP ring.  Police apparently learned of 
the operation from a few victims who had escaped forced 
prostitution in Malaysia, returned to the Mekong Delta and filed 
a police complaint.  During the raids in HCMC, ten persons were 
arrested, including Tsii Sien, a Taiwanese citizen (spelling of 
name as given).  However, police officials believe the group is 
much bigger.  They are pursuing additional suspects, including a 
Malaysian suspect still at large.  (Note:  Colonel Viet gave us 
the names, dates of birth, and addresses of the 10 arrestees, 
which we have passed to the Consular Section for possible entry 
into the CLASS visa lookout system.  End Note.)  In the course 
of the investigation, MPS confiscated 51 passports, 57 family 
registration books, 33 Vietnamese ID cards, 21 birth 
certificates, mobile phones, motor bikes, and Vietnamese, 
Taiwanese, Malaysian and U.S. currency.  The authenticity of the 
civil documents is being analyzed by MPS forensic units.  Viet 
noted parenthetically that forgery and document counterfeiting 
operations in Vietnam have become more sophisticated. 
 
¶5. (SBU) According to Viet, 39 Vietnamese women, aged 16 to 28, 
were rescued during the police operation.  They all were from 
poor families in the Mekong Delta or Tay Ninh Province.  They 
apparently were lured to HCMC by promises of lucrative overseas 
work.  Viet said that they were not/not aware that, once in 
Malaysia, they would be sold to brothels to become sex slaves. 
In HCMC, the girls had been housed together while gang members 
secured passports and documentation for transshipment to 
Malaysia.   All the women have now been returned to their 
families. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Viet said that the ten suspects admitted having 
trafficked at least 100 Vietnamese women to Malaysia.  Upon 
arrival in Malaysia, members of the ring would shop the victims 
from brothel to brothel until a sale was made, a process that 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000437  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
took about a week.  Given the arrest of a Taiwanese national, 
the MPS suspects that some of the victims may have been resold 
to Taiwan; MPS is working with Taiwanese authorities to follow 
up.  MPS also is working with Malaysian Interpol to try and 
identify, rescue and repatriate victims in Malaysia.  Viet was 
hopeful that authorities might rescue the bulk of the women 
trafficked by this ring; he noted that, unlike the trafficking 
of Vietnamese women in mainland China, where women are widely 
distributed across rural China, in Malaysia, the women appear to 
have been sold to brothels in a relatively small urban area. 
 
Taiwanese Brides, Tourism and Adoption 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Viet said that authorities are looking very carefully 
at the phenomenon of Vietnamese women marrying Taiwanese men 
(reftel).  He said that, to the best of his knowledge, all 
marriage arrangements inside Vietnam are proper and legal, even 
though brides' families are paid up to USD 3000 during the 
process.  However, the Colonel said that he is concerned over 
some reports that, once in Taiwan, women were sold into forced 
labor or prostitution.  (He did not elaborate.) 
 
¶8. (SBU) Viet said that the MPS also believes that young 
Vietnamese women are befriended by traffickers, invited to 
travel overseas "for fun," and then lured to Taiwan, Macau, 
Malaysia, and Hong Kong where they are forced into prostitution. 
 He also indicated that Vietnamese women are going to Singapore 
to practice prostitution, but did not state that these women 
were trafficked. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Viet noted that MPS also is investigating child 
trafficking via adoptions.  Police have information suggesting 
that children have been legally adopted by foreigners in 
Vietnam, but have been sold overseas. Viet said that no U.S. 
adoptions were involved.  He stated that MPS officials would be 
willing to hold follow-up discussions with relevant ConGen staff 
on the adoptions fraud issue. 
 
Looking Ahead to More Cooperation? 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) PolOff noted that one apparent weakness in the TIP 
detection and enforcement system in Vietnam was the apparent 
ease with which traffickers could obtain passports for women. 
Viet acknowledged that MPS is conducting an internal review of 
its TIP detection and interdiction efforts.  He promised to 
share the results of that review as well as the outcome of the 
expanded investigation into the Malaysian trafficking ring. 
Viet highlighted ongoing cooperation efforts with the Dutch, 
Australian and French governments.  He said MPS wants to nurture 
a channel of cooperation with the USG to jointly combat TIP. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Comment:  Our lengthy and detailed discussion on TIP 
-- and the promise of greater cooperation to come -- was the 
warmest reception that we have ever received from the MPS in 
HCMC.  We will seek to build on this opening, which could lead 
to expanded opportunities to assist Vietnamese authorities in 
combating TIP, an issue of increasing concern -- and action -- 
for police and government officials in HCMC and the Mekong 
Delta.  End Comment. 
WINNICK