4 women arrested in Yishun for providing sexual services under guise of massages

Two massage parlours at a Yishun Housing and Development Board (HDB) block were simultaneously raided by police on the night of Jun. 30 as part of anti-vice operations.

Three women from the two establishments, between aged 23 and 35, were arrested for allegedly providing sexual services under the guise of massages.

One was a Singapore Permanent Resident while the other two were foreigners.

A fourth suspect, also a woman, was arrested at a different location in Yishun the same night.

2 massage parlours raided at HDB block

Mothership visited the establishments, located on the first floor of a HDB block, following the raid.

The first parlour had two massage beds and three couches in its reception area.

Two female employees, seated on one of the beds, avoided eye contact with the media.

Another employee sat on a couch waiting to have her statement taken from police.

Further in were three private rooms separated by blinds, each with a massage bed.

Two male customers were seated on the beds, giving their statements to police officers.

Another two employees were standing in a back room with an officer.

Arrested

Reporters also visited the second massage parlour, a few metres from the first raid location, after police had concluded investigations there.

This was a larger establishment which occupied two floors and had 10 private rooms in total.

It also appeared to be more high-end than the first, with attached showers in the rooms and wooden flooring.

The three suspects were arrested by police officers.

They were escorted to a police vehicle as reporters and a few residents watched on.

Speaking to the media the same night, Woodlands Police division commander and assistant commissioner of police Tan Chi Chong said that four suspects had been arrested at several massage establishments for vice-related offences.

Tan said the errant outlets allegedly provided sexual services under the guise of massage services.

"The message from tonight's operations is clear, these illegal activities have no place in our society, and will not hesitate to take strong enforcement action to uphold law and order," Tan said.

2 men, 316 women arrested in anti-vice raids

The operation was part of anti-vice raids conducted from May 20 to Jun. 30 by officers from the Specialised Crime Branch of CID, the seven Police Land Divisions, and the Immigration Checkpoints Authority (ICA).

Apart from Yishun, anti-vice raids were conducted at Desker Road, Jalan Besar, Balestier Road, Moulmein Road, Bukit Batok, Geylang, Jalan Sultan, Jurong East, Clementi, Upper Serangoon Road and Joo Chiat.

The raids were conducted at various locations, including HDB flats, private condominiums, apartments, hotels, massage establishments, beauty salons, facial spas, public entertainment outlets and coffeeshops.

During the raids, two men and 316 women, aged between 19 and 63, were arrested for various offences.

The two men were arrested for allegedly abetting vice activities.

This was part of a seven-week long island-wide multi-agency enforcement operation conducted between May 20 and Jul. 7, involving all seven Police Land Divisions, Traffic Police and CID.

They were supported by officers from the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB), ICA, Singapore Civil Defence Force , Health Sciences Authority, Singapore Customs, and Land Transport Authority (LTA).

A total of 1,401 men and 1,044 women, aged between 15 and 84, are being investigated for various offences.

Top image by Daniel Seow/Mothership