Phinkaew Krissanee, 24, a nightclub hostess, and Kiyoshi Shiratori, 65, a funeral home employee in Hino in Tokyo, were arrested for allegedly violating the law banning child prostitution and pornography.

The arrests mark the first crackdown on the trafficking of a foreign girl.

The police quoted Phinkaew as saying that since arriving in Japan four years ago, she had "sold" about 10 Thai girls and adult women to pimps and earned ¥2 million to ¥2.5 million for each.

In October 2002, Phinkaew sold the girl, who was 13 at the time, to a pimp at a fast-food restaurant in Shinjuku Ward for ¥2.3 million.

The girl was arrested in April 2004 on suspicion of illegally staying in Japan. She left Japan that June on an expulsion order.

The police believe the case is only the tip of the iceberg and plans to use recent amendments to the Penal Code, which criminalized human-trafficking, to tighten its crackdown on such brokers.

The Japan Times Weekly: July 9, 2005
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