PUTRAJAYA: The Immigration Department has crippled an international prostitution syndicate that conducted vice activities using the WeChat messaging application. The department raided a serviced apartment in Georgetown, Penang Friday morning and detained 19 foreign women. The suspects, aged between 17 and 38, comprised 16 women from Uzbekistan, two from Vietnam and one from Indonesia. Immigration director-general Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali said the syndicate operated from a residential location to avoid enforcement authorities as the premises were tightly guarded and only registered visitors were allowed in. Acting on information from locals, Mustafar said the Penang Immigration Department's action unit carried out the raid jointly with the Putrajaya's enforcement division.

Source: The Star February 10, 2017 12:45 UTC