Toronto police crack down on e-pimps

A crackdown in Toronto on prostitutes advertising online has resulted in the seizure of $227,000 in assets and a deportation order, police said.

One of the most popular places for pimps and their workers to advertise is on the craigslist.org site, Detective-Sgt. Howie Page told the Toronto Sun.

Our officers are going through the Internet and newspapers on a daily basis searching for illegal activity, he said.

The operation resulted in the conviction on Feb. 14 of Sabina Mitakina, 38, who advertised herself as Natasha: An upscale escort, the report said. Page said the woman agreed to be deported to Russia and forfeit holdings in two condominiums, a bank account and cash totaling $227,000.

A North American expert on Internet solicitation, Dallas Police Sgt. Bryon Fasson, told the Sun in a telephone interview police have an uphill struggle.

The ads on some of these sites are blatant and there's no fear of reprisals, he said. Some of these pimps have two or three girls in different cities.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International