MADRID (AP) — Twenty-six people were arrested and 32 women were freed in Spain in an operation to dismantle a network that sexually exploited some 600 women — mostly Venezuelans and Colombians — over the past year, the National Police said Tuesday.
The investigation began in June last year following a tip-off from a victim, and resulted in the arrest of nine people in Madrid, five in Malaga on the southern coast, and 12 in Toledo in central Spain, the police said in a statement. Among those arrested were the two ringleaders, it added.
The network recruited women in vulnerable situations, offering them 5,000 euros ($5,400) a week with supposedly good working conditions, according to the authorities. The ones who accepted were tied in contracts with debts of between 3,000 and 4,000 euros (between $3,240 and $4,320). They also waived rights to their images, which appeared on adult online platforms.
The victims had to be available around the clock, could not put on weight and were subject to strict rules, with fines of between 30 and 40 euros for non-compliance, police said. In addition, they had to offer drugs and medicines to their clients, police added.
The police announcement in Spain was made on World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. According to the United Nations, more than 50 million people could be victims of trafficking worldwide.
