White slaves freed as police smash prostitution ring

IN a joint operation with the Romanian police, National Police in Almeria have freed five women who were being forced to prostitute themselves.

The victims were enticed with false promises and lies about finding a good, well paid job in Spain and, once here, they were forced into total isolation in their homes and then sexually exploited.

The investigations began when one of the women made an official complaint at a police station in Almeria in which she stated that since she was a minor she had been forced to prostitute herself for a group of Romanians. The young woman had been captured in Romania and transported to Almeria by the gang. If she ever refused to comply with their orders they would threaten her and her family as well as ill treating her both physically and mentally.

Initial investigations revealed the identity of several members of the gang, their MO, how they selected their victims for sale – all the women were young, poor and uneducated Romanians.

Their MO was to select a young woman and make her promises of a “new life” in Spain with a good job. Once here they were subjected to constant threats, lived in isolation from each other so they had nobody to confide in, and were told that, as they could not find work for them the women would have to pay their debt, incurred during their transport to this country, by prostituting themselves in the many clubs and brothels of El Ejido.

Several of the women who were interviewed in the course of the investigation explained that they were frequently moved around and “sold” on to other clubs and other gangs, always Romanian.

So far six men, all Romanian, have been arrested, the joint operation continues and a police spokesperson has commented that there may soon be more arrests but that all the leaders of the gang had already been caught.