Manhunt under way after man robs woman of HK$15,000 at knifepoint in Hong Kong hotel room

The insider said surveillance camera footage showed the man, believed to be aged between 40 and 50, left the room at around 1.23am.

“The victim told officers that the man threatened her with a fruit knife and demanded money from her,” he said.

According to the force, the mainland woman was robbed of HK$15,000 in cash and was not injured during the hold-up.

Officers launched a search, but no arrests were made.

The source said a preliminary investigation suggested the woman was a suspected sex worker and the robber could be her client who had an appointment with her.

Detectives from the Yuen Long criminal investigation unit are handling the case.

Last month, officers from the Kowloon East regional crime unit broke up a cross-border syndicate that raked in HK$30 million in less than a year by bringing sex workers from across the border to work in hotels, including a five-star one in Tsim Sha Tsui.

Police arrested 39 people in the operation against the triad-controlled prostitution racket on August 8. Twenty-five of them were suspected sex workers from the mainland who were picked up at three hotels.

The city recorded a 5.2 per cent rise in the number of triad-related crimes to 959 in the first six months of this year from 912 in the same period in 2023.