Teenager runs group that lures, sells vulnerable girls

Tran Van Huy, 19, the mastermind, Hoang Van Cuong, 23, Bui Viet Trung, 25 and Vu Hong Quan, Dinh Thanh Tuong and Duong Tuan Cuong, all 20, are being investigated for "trafficking of a person under 16", police said Friday.

The group lured young girls who dropped out of school during the Covid-19 pandemic through social media and tricked them with job offers. Most recently, two girls, aged 14 and 16, were offered "high-paying jobs" by the group, but were detained at an apartment complex in the Que Vo industrial park of Bac Ninh that borders Hanoi.

A few days later, Huy sold the two girls to karaoke and massage parlors in Hanoi and Ninh Binh. The girls were forced to work as waitresses at the facilities.

Huy said the group could get between VND4 million and VND6 million ($174-261)) for each person sold. They operated in Bac Giang, Ninh Binh and Hanoi.