Ho Chi Minh City police have arrested the owner of a downtown restaurant accused of brokering sexual services for foreign clients.

Nguyen Hoai Thuong, 39, who runs Lolita restaurant on Le Thanh Ton Street in District 1, was charged under Vietnam's Penal Code with sex trafficking, district police said on Saturday.

Thuong's arrest followed a routine administrative check at a hotel on Cao Ba Quat Street, close to her restaurant, on the evening of December 26, 2024.

Officers discovered two Vietnamese women engaged in sexual activities with two South Korean men in different rooms.

The women admitted to police that they worked for Lolita and were providing these services to the tourists under Thuong's arrangement.

The sequence of events began with a dinner at Lolita, followed by a move to the nearby hotel, police officers reported.

Upon her arrest, Thuong confessed that she had been acting as a go-between for her female staff and foreign clients since opening Lolita in May 2022.

The services were available at the restaurant or a hotel, with prices set at VND5 million (US$197) for a two-hour session and VND8 million ($315) for an overnight stay.

From these fees, the workers received VND2 million ($79) for the shorter session and up to VND3 million ($118) for the longer one, with the remainder going to Thuong.

Lolita primarily catered to foreigners interested in such services and had seven female employees dedicated to this aspect of the business. The venue offered unlicensed karaoke services, according to the police report.

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