Twenty-five sex workers from Thailand have been arrested along with another Thai female suspected of acting as their pimp in connection with a flesh trade ring in Japan.
Bussadee Santipitak, director of the Foreign Ministry's Department of Information, said on Thursday the Thai embassy in Tokyo has acknowledged the issue. Staff are gathering more information to submit to prosecutors so legal action can begin, she said.
Ms Bussadee was commenting after FNN-News Japan reported on Wednesday the arrest of 26 Thai women in Hachioji, a city in the western part of Tokyo. Their names were not released.
One 38-year-old woman allegedly told Japanese police she had worked as a procurer to dupe Thai women into the sex trade by offering them jobs as masseuses with the promise of high returns and welfare benefits.
After they came to Japan, their passports were confiscated to stop them from leaving, the police said. The women were then forced into prostitution to repay debts including air tickets and travel expenses.
