Three detained in central Vietnam over alleged child trafficking, unlawful confinement

Local police said on Tuesday that Le Do Hieu had been charged with trafficking a person under 16 and unlawful detention, Hoang Ngoc Cuong with trafficking a person under 16, and Le The Canh with unlawful detention.

The case was uncovered during an inspection of The Canh karaoke parlor in Dong Tien Ward in Thanh Hoa Province on October 3.

Police found two female employees at the venue, a 15-year-old girl from Nghe An Province and a 17-year-old girl from Tuyen Quang Province.

Investigators said the two had been kept under tight control and forced to live at the karaoke business.

According to police, the 15-year-old had previously worked at another karaoke venue and borrowed VND3 million (US$114) from its owner to buy clothes and personal items.

In April 2026, she contacted D., an employee at Hoang Gia karaoke parlor in Thanh Hoa, seeking to move to another workplace.

D. later discussed the matter with Cuong, 32, the owner of the karaoke business, who agreed to take the girl in and paid off her VND3 million ($114) debt at her former workplace.

In June, when the girl, D., and two other female workers asked to quit, Cuong told them they still owed him a combined VND32 million ($1,210) and would have to repay the money before they could leave, police said.

By late July, D. and two other employees had fled.

Hieu then demanded that the 15-year-old take responsibility for VND65 million ($2,460) in debt allegedly left by the three workers.

Together with an earlier VND5 million debt, he demanded that she repay VND70 million ($2,650).

Police said Hieu later ordered the 15-year-old and the 17-year-old to stay in a container at the karaoke premises because he feared they would escape.

Canh, 24, an employee of the business, was assigned to supervise them.

The two workers were not allowed to leave without permission and had to be accompanied by Canh whenever they went outside.

At night, Canh allegedly locked the container from the outside and kept the key. The two had to call him even when they needed to leave the container to use the toilet.

Thanh Hoa police are continuing their investigation.