Police are appealing for the family of a Fyshwick massage parlour worker to come forward to help solve the mystery of her death.
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They also want people in the sex trade who might have known Paweena Dumdee to contact them with information.
The dead woman was a Thai national.
Police say she died at Canberra Hospital 18 months ago, but "Ms Dumdee’s death was not reported to police at the time".
They said the cause of death was found to be "a brain haemorrhage, which was likely to have been caused by drug use".
The place where police say the dead woman worked was later one of a series of establishments suspected of employing women who had been trafficked from Thailand. The police now say they want to know whether illegal drugs were supplied to the workers at the massage parlour.
The police statement says, "During 2018, investigations into human trafficking indicated that Ms Dumdee may have been a victim of exploitation by traffickers or the operators of Chok Dee Massage in Fyshwick, where she worked."
Last July, the police raided several brothels including Chok Dee Massage in an investigation of the trafficking of women from Thailand for the Canberra sex industry.
An Australian woman was charged and five Thai nationals detained over immigration offences as a result of the simultaneous raids on the premises. Four Thai nationals, working illegally in Australia, were then deported, the police said at the time.
On top of that, five sex industry businesses at two premises were forced to cease trading when WorkSafe ACT issued prohibition notices after the raids.
Four Thai nationals, working illegally in Australia, were detained and deported after the raids, the police said at the time.
After the raids, an Australian citizen was charged in court of allowing unlawful non-citizens to work and allowing a non-citizen to work in breach of a visa.
The allegation was that the women had held either current or expired student or tourist visas, and did not have the right to work in Australia.
It's not known if Paweena Dumdee, the woman who died in 2017, had been trafficked and was working in Australia without the right visa or any visa, only that the police believe she worked at the massage parlour which was raided a year later. One possibility would be that she was also trafficked and her death from a drug overdose was not reported for that reason.
The ACT coroner is now investigating the death.
The police said, "ACT Policing is conducting the investigation for the coroner and is particularly seeking:
- Ms Dumdee’s family members, some of whom are likely still to be in Sydney.
- Other people who worked at Chok Dee Massage in 2017.
- Anyone with any information about Ms Dumdee during her time in Australia.
- Anyone with information about drugs suspected of being supplied to workers at Chok Dee Massage
- The identity of anyone involved in the events leading up to Ms Dumdee’s death."
Police asked anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, or via the Crime Stoppers ACT website.
