May 22, 2008
BANGKOK - A former British police officer was arrested in Bangkok in an international crackdown on a sex trafficking ring that saw nine Thais detained last month in London, Thai police said Wednesday.
Ian Shuttleworth, 42, was arrested late Tuesday at his apartment in downtown Bangkok, where he had set up a security company providing bodyguards to Thailand's elite.
He is accused of luring Thai women into prostitution by promising them well-paid restaurant jobs in London, and then selling them to a madam, police Colonel Panya Pinsuk told AFP.
"He has not yet confessed or denied the charges. He said he is waiting for his lawyer," Panya said.
Three Thais were also arrested in Bangkok over the sex trafficking ring, following a crackdown in London last month.
Police arrested Shuttleworth after a woman complained to authorities that her father had paid him 530,000 baht (16,500 dollars) to win her a job at a London restaurant.
The woman, whose identity has been withheld by police, said Shuttleworth flew her to France and then took her to Britain, where she was sold into the service of a Thai woman running a prostitution ring in London.
The mama-san is married to 31-year-old Thai national Pongpoj Pitayatanakul, who was arrested last month by London's Metropolitan Police.
Pongpoj was among nine Thais arrested in connection with the sex trafficking ring.
Thirty of their victims were rescued by British police.
Eighteen of the girls have returned to Thailand, while the other 12 decided to stay in Britain.
London police found that some of the women had debt bondages of up to 28,000 pounds (55,400 dollars).
