http://english.people.com.cn/200612/09/eng20061209_330338.html
108 arrested in massage parlor raids in Vancouver area
UPDATED: 10:37, December 09, 2006
Canadian police carried out a series of raids on 18 massage parlors in Vancouver area Thursday night, making 108 arrests, reports said Friday.
Police targeted parlors suspected of having connections to the sex trade, organized crime and human trafficking operations.
Twenty-six of those arrested were clients at the parlors, while human trafficking investigators interviewed another 78 women, many of them described as being Asian or South Asian, the reports said.
Mary Pichette, a social worker who runs a safe house for prostitutes in Surrey, said the raids were unprecedented in Canada.
Police found up to 130 women who were allegedly being sexually exploited, she said, adding that she believes the raids just scratch the surface of the problem.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) estimate that as many as 1,200 people in Canada, mostly women, are victims of human trafficking every year.