Force targets illegal sex in the city

The City of London Police raided three City brothels last Thursday and Friday (July 29 and 30) in an operation targeting organised crime.

Detectives identified the addresses by collecting streets cards advertising sexual services in the Square Mile.

On Thursday they entered flats in the east of the City and arrested a 38-year-old woman from Thailand on suspicion of running a brothel. Close to £1,000 was seized.

Three customers were also arrested but later released without charge after sex workers told police they were acting of their own freewill.

A third flat was raided the following day in Farringdon, but no arrests were made.

The three brothels were cleared and boarded up, forcing the owners to contact police to regain access to their properties.

The force’s Money Laundering Unit is now investigating the finances behind the brothels.

DCI Dave Clark, from the forces Economic Crime Directorate, said:

“This operation is about targeting organised crime groups using the sex trade to facilitate money laundering.
“Closing down these brothels will have damaged their criminal operation and brought us a step closer to bringing them to justice.

“At the same time we have shown again that the force will not tolerate prostitution in the city, be it as a worker, a customer or the criminal pulling the strings behind the scene.”