ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Two operators of a New York travel agency have been indicted for organizing "sex tours" to Southeast Asia, the first such case involving a United States-based company, the state attorney general said Monday.
The trips arranged by Big Apple Oriental Tours were allegedly a way to solicit customers for prostitution rings in the Philippines and Thailand.
"These defendants claimed to be operating a traditional travel agency. It is far from that," Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said. He said the travel agency's actions "led to the systematic exploitation and suppression of young women."