Police bust up budget hotel hooker service

Pudong New Area police have arrested 22 suspected members of a prostitution ring in the city, the Shanghai Municipal Security Bureau reported Monday.

The bust was part of a larger police effort to crack down on prostitution at local budget hotels. Since July, local police have busted four prostitution rings that targeted budget hotel guests, detaining 62 suspects, according to a press release from the municipal police bureau.

"This incident involved budget hotels in several districts. Police in every district have been taking measures to crack down on prostitution," said Ye Jianchao, a police officer with the Shanghai Municipal Security Bureau.

Pudong police began investigating the ring at the end of May after they were alerted that cards advertising a prostitution service were being distributed at local hotels, the press release said.

Members of the ring delivered the cards, which often featured pornographic photographs accompanying a phone number, to hotel rooms by sliding them under the doors of guests' rooms.

A guest who called the number would end up talking to an operator who could dispatch prostitutes to the caller's hotel room.

Police said the boss of the operation, surnamed Zhou, was so cautious that he would ask clients to provide the names of their hotels and their room numbers. He would then call them back in their hotel rooms to make sure the requests were real.

The ring employed drivers who would take the prostitutes to each job, police said. A member of the ring would accompany the prostitutes inside the hotel to provide security.

They would usually sit in the lobby to keep an eye out for police while the girl was with the client.

Police busted the ring on October 18, arresting 11 prostitutes and clients along with the criminal suspects.

"They recruited prostitutes from local hair salons and massage spas," Ye told the Global Times.

Many brothels in the city operate under the guise of hair salons or spas.

Some local hotels have taken measures to prevent prostitution.

"People without a room key card cannot get on the elevator," said an employee with Hanting Inns and Hotels, a budget hotel chain. "Our security guards always keep a close eye on the video surveillance and we will call the police if we find someone suspected of distributing cards."