National Police officers have freed 24 women who were victims of sexual exploitation and have dismantled the criminal organization that was exploiting them 24 hours a day in apartments located in different regions of Spain, also closing five of these apartments used as points of sale and distribution of cocaine and drugs for erectile dysfunction.
The women, mostly Colombian nationals, were forced into prostitution 24 hours a day, six days a week, with only two hours free per day, as reported by the National Police. The organization was led by a woman who headed a family network.
21 people were arrested in the provinces of Madrid (10), Valencia (5), Castellón (3), La Rioja (2) and Zaragoza (1), among whom are the four main authors of the network who entered provisional prison. 11 house searches were carried out and five meeting floors were judicially closed.
A woman was reported to the police
The investigation began with the statement of a woman who said she had been a victim of sexual exploitation by a criminal organization. The numerous investigations initiated since then by the agents have allowed them to detect the activity of this network led by a citizen who, with her direct relatives, operated as a family clan while the rest of the members were citizens of Latin American origin.
Investigators were able to establish that the criminal organization recruited victims in their home countries through advertisements on Internet portals for sexual contacts and, occasionally, through other women who were allegedly under the control of the criminal organization.
The women accepted the conditions imposed because of their initially precarious economic situation and in the hope of improving their living conditions, often being the sole breadwinners of the family.
The victims travelled by plane from their home countries or other European Union countries to Spain, pretending to be on a tourist trip, passing on these expenses to them in the form of a debt that they would have to pay by submitting to the sexual exploitation of the criminal network.
Deplorable conditions and “new women” every 21 days
The criminal network operated in at least six meeting apartments located in the provinces of Castellón, Madrid, Málaga and Valencia.
When the women arrived in our country, they were transferred to one of these floors, where they remained for 21 days, and when the exploiters considered that the women had been “burned” in one area, they transferred them to other floors. This rotation system was used to satisfy the constant demand of clients for “new women” and thus increase the profits of the network, as explained by the police.
The victims were forced to accept all sexual orders 24 hours a day with only one day off per week and two hours of rest with prior notice to the members of the criminal network. Of the profits from the sexual services rendered, they were only entitled to 50%.
The members of the criminal network were themselves responsible for responding to clients and organizing their sexual services, whether by telephone or instant messaging, thus controlling the quantity and duration of the services.
Narcotics and money laundering
The meeting floors also served as points of sale and distribution of narcotic substances, mainly cocaine, and prescription drugs indicated for the treatment of erectile dysfunction.
The criminal network collected the economic profits derived from sexual exploitation and the sale of these narcotic and pharmacological substances, through a mobile phone payment platform. To do this, it had a network of collaborators who provided telephone lines and bank accounts where payments were made, which were then transmitted to the leaders of the criminal network in cash or through cryptocurrencies.
To launder these derived profits, they used intermediary commercial companies through which they acquired various movable and immovable assets.
The police operation ended with 11 house searches during which 51,730 euros in cash, a vehicle, 11 mobile phones, two laptops, a tablet, 35 grams of cocaine, 446 grams of marijuana, 52 grams of hashish, 23 pills of medication for the treatment of erectile dysfunction, an air pistol with lead ammunition were seized. In addition, cash and cryptocurrencies were blocked and the transfer of assets worth 508,367 euros was prohibited.
The National Police, on the occasion of the International Day against Sexual Exploitation and Human Trafficking, recalled that it had a telephone line 900105090 and the mail Treat@policia.es to facilitate citizen collaboration and the anonymous and confidential reporting of this type of crime, the call not being reflected in the telephone bill.
