Multimedia: The brothels LEGAL brothels in NSW and Victoria are operating unchecked despite police investigations implicating them in human trafficking, sex slavery and organised crime.
Two federal police investigations, Operations Elixation and Raspberry, have identified at least two Sydney brothels and three Melbourne ones linked to an international human trafficking and sex slavery ring. The syndicate allegedly convinces Asian women to come to Australia to study. They are then forced to work as sex slaves in brothels. Lin Gao But the state and local authorities responsible for approving legal brothels have taken no action, despite court documents in August detailing federal police allegations of the brothels' - or their managers' - involvement in organised crime.
A syndicate member, De Jun Zheng, was also involved in the killing in of a Melbourne man, Abraham Papo, outside a brothel linked to sex trafficking. Evidence suggests Papo was killed trying to help a Korean prostitute he thought was being harmed or held against her will by the syndicate in Sydney. Papo's parents, Deanna and Marco, are calling on state and federal authorities to crack down on brothels linked to sex trafficking. In addition to the legal parlours identified in federal police operations, the Herald can reveal other legal brothels operating unchecked despite alleged links to organised crime.
They are: Nadira in inner-city Sydney, which specialises in Korean prostitutes. It is closely linked to the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle club and senior Asian organised crime figures; Regarding House, in Heidelberg, Melbourne, where a sex slave allegedly worked in The owner of the premises is linked to a Chinese syndicate that runs illegal brothels; 39 Tope Street in South Melbourne, from which authorities removed two women in late due to sex slavery allegations which the licensee later denied; Senior police sources said the links between organised crime or sex trafficking syndicates and legal brothels highlighted the need for stronger state regulation, better information-sharing between police and regulators - including across state borders - and discussion of the need for uniform prostitution laws in Australia.
An federal police spokesman told the Herald the agency "continually explores ways to increase the sharing of information and collaboration" in the illegal sex industry. Since , the federal police's human trafficking teams have undertaken more than investigations and assessments of trafficking allegations, identifying victims, including women forced to work as sex slaves. Senior state police sources in NSW and Victoria acknowledge that the policing of organised crime in the legal brothel sector is patchy and the regulation of brothels in both states often woeful.
