HONG KONG: Police have smashed a vice syndicate suspected of trafficking women from the Philippines and luring them into prostitution in Hong Kong, officials said on Thursday.

Officers arrested nine Filipinas in an early morning raid in the southern Chinese city's Wan Chai red light district, according to a police statement.

Undercover officers mounted operation "Zonecleaner" at the end of August to identify the gang's leaders who were suspected of recruiting women who had originally come to Hong Kong to work as domestic helpers.

They raided a private club in Wan Chai and a nearby flat on Thursday morning, arresting four Filipinas aged between 26 and 47 for trafficking women to Hong Kong for sexual purposes and for managing a vice establishment.

Five other Philippine women, aged between 24 and 29, suspected of working in the club were also arrested for breaching their conditions of stay.

All the women are being questioned in police custody.

Under Hong Kong law, prostitution is legal if carried out by one woman operating alone.

Many of Hong Kong's sex workers are women from Southeast Asia and mainland China who enter the territory on tourist visas in the hope of making some money.

Official figures show there were four cases of human trafficking in Hong Kong in 2007 and one last year. Police said there was no evidence that the city had a human trafficking problem.

"But we will continue to be vigilant and maintain close liaison with foreign consulates and other law enforcement agencies both in Hong Kong and overseas to tackle such illegal activities," a police spokesman said.