Police arrest human trafficker who sold over 100 Vietnamese women to China

Police in Bac Lieu Province, Vietnam’s Mekong Delta region, have detained a local woman for allegedly having sold more than 100 Vietnamese women to China as wives for local men, for up to US$24,600 per person, since 2013.

The provincial police department on Thursday issued a decision to arrest and prosecute Danh Thi Mau, 52, on charges of human trafficking, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

Mau was accused of colluding with others to seek poor Vietnamese women who wanted to marry Chinese men and then sent them to China through illegal border crossing in northern Vietnam localities bordering China. 

The suspect seduced her potential preys by assuring them that they would have a chance to get a better life after going to China and marrying local men.

According to agreements with such women, Mau paid each of their families VND70-150 million ($2,870-6,150) before sending them to China.

Chinese men who bought such women paid Mau and her accomplices VND300-600 million ($12,300-24,600) per woman based on their appearance and ages, police reported.  

After marrying Chinese men, many Vietnamese women were abused and beaten, and they wanted to return home.

In such cases, Mau asked their families to return all the money they had received from her before she arranged for them to be sent back to Vietnam, investigators said.

From 2013 until her arrest, Mau and her accomplices allegedly sold more than 100 Vietnamese women to China, illegally earning billions of dong (VND1 billion = $41,040), according to the case file.

Local police are hunting for Mau’s accomplices.

By Vinh Tho – Tuoi Tre News – February 9, 2024