Men visiting vice dens could unwittingly appear in porn films, police warned yesterday after finding hidden cameras in brothel raids.
Officers seized pinhole surveillance cameras, discs and cassette tapes in brothels allegedly controlled by two multimillion-dollar vice syndicates in Mongkok on Tuesday night. They seized more than $40 million worth of assets.
'In the crackdown and previous anti-vice operations, we discovered that most brothels had different types of hi-tech surveillance systems,' said Chief Inspector Vincent Cheng Kwok-keung, of Kowloon West regional crime unit.
'The surveillance devices, including pinhole cameras, were fixed inside and outside vice dens and some secret cameras were found in the bedrooms and toilets of these brothels.'
He said the devices could have been used for security reasons or to monitor business. But he did not rule out the possibility that sex acts had been recorded and sold to the underground film industry. Police would check to see if the seized discs and tapes contained such footage.
Police yesterday displayed surveillance devices, cash, jewellery and bankbooks seized when they raided 139 premises in Kowloon West between 4pm and midnight on Tuesday.