KOTA KINABALU: Sabah police, which have crippled several human trafficking syndicates, said trafficking is thriving in the state.

State CID (anti-vice, gambling and secret society division) chief Deputy Supt Mohd Taufik Maidin said police had detained 23 pimps including seven women over the past two years.

In January, police arrested six pimps and 29 women in raids here and in the interior Keningau district.

Police were investigating two of the pimps and 22 of the women under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act 2007 as the victims were duped and trafficked in for prostitution.

DSP Mohd Taufik told a seminar on the Act here that while prostitutes were free to move around, trafficked humans were abused and confined.

Noting that it was a challenge to prosecute a person under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, he said those caught were usually charged under the Immigration Act for overstaying or under the Penal Code for prostitution or for living in or trading in prostitution.

DSP Mohd Taufik said police needed the cooperation of the victims who were trafficked in and lured into prostitution to be able to charge a suspect under the anti-trafficking law.

“I believe if 10 people point to the same person and the same illegal operation, we will be able to nail this person,” he said, adding that police were working with other enforcement agencies including foreign consulates in tackling human trafficking.

Meanwhile, Sabah Women’s Advisory Council deputy chairperson Mariati Robert said more shelter homes were needed for human trafficking victims particularly in Sabah’s east coast.

She said there were currently only three shelters in Sabah, two in the state capital and one in Sandakan.

Mariati said the homes could not cope with both domestic violence and human trafficking victims.

“Sabah needs more such homes to protect these victims while waiting for their police cases to be resolved,” she added.

By RUBEN SARIO