HO CHI MINH CITY, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City has detected four prostitutes cum pimps in a high-end sex ring of amateur models and actresses, local media quoted the municipal police as saying on Tuesday.
The four prostitutes cum pimps include a 25-year-old woman from the southern province of Bac Lieu and a 25-year-old freelance model from Ho Chi Minh City, who have participated in local singing or beauty contests, daily newspaper Thanh Nien (Young People) reported.
They either offered sex service or introduced prostitutes to sex buyers at prices of 200-500 U.S. dollars. They received intermediary fees of 22-134 U.S. dollars for each transaction.
There are nearly 101,300 sex workers, including 72,000 women in Vietnam, estimated the International Labor Organization in the country.
Vietnam currently has some 126,000 potentially illicit services such as massage parlors and karaoke lounges which employ nearly 100,000 women, according to statistics from the Vietnamese Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs.
