Three Africans have been arrested on suspicion of being part of a gang known as "madam" that traffics women from Africa into prostitution in Bangkok.
Officials from the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) first detained a man from Mali, identified only as Baba, in Nong Khai province. Two Tanzanian women, identified as Lulu and Zuwena, were later arrested in Bangkok on Monday.
The arrests were part on an ongoing operation by the Ministry of Justice and the DSI targeting human trafficking networks in Thailand, Pol Maj Siriwish Kasemsap, director of the DSI's Human Trafficking Bureau, said on Wednesday.
The gang members called themselves "madam". Their job was to supply and force African women into the sex trade, working in entertainment venues on Sukhumvit Road.
The gang collected the money the women earned from customers and forced them to pay for their travel themselves. The traffickers used "black magic" superstitions to control the women, Pol Maj Siriwish said.
The three suspects were charged as a group with involvement in the transnational crime of human trafficking.
The investigation is being expanded and is continuing.