Spain arrests five- The people accused of human trafficking tricked their victims by offering them fake refugee opportunities and jobs that didn’t exist.
Spain arrests five
Europol helped the Spanish National Police break up a criminal group that was trafficking people for sex. The suspects tricked Ukrainian victims by promising them refugee visas, money, and jobs.
On May 24, 2024, the events in AlmerÃa resulted in:
- Five arrests made, including the alleged leader: one Spanish, two Russian, and two Ukrainian nationals detained.
- 14 victims identified
- 5 locations searched
- Seizures including two luxury vehicles, in cash, electronic equipment, employment contracts for jobs in the service sector, and other various documents linked to the club where the victims were exploited
Since 2020, a criminal group has been using social media to trick women into thinking they were offering jobs as hostesses or front-of-house staff. These women, mostly from Ukraine and Belarus, were actually being recruited to work in a prostitution club in El Ejido, Spain, where they were exploited.
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The victims were chosen because of their nationality and taken to Spain using tourist visas. They were promised real jobs in entertainment and tourism. Once they arrived in Spain, they were told to apply for temporary protection because of the war in Ukraine. After doing this, they were allowed to live in Spain permanently. The young women were assured they could work legally with this protection.
However, the victims were tricked by the suspects. They never got any job contract and instead were forced into prostitution. The criminal group made a lot of illegal money by exploiting many women. The victims were housed in three homes provided by the person who managed the nightclub. By keeping the victims away from others, the traffickers tried to reduce the chances of police finding out or the women escaping. This way, they could control and use the victims completely.
Europol helped share information and gave ongoing analysis during the investigation. On the action day, Europol sent an expert to double-check real-time operational info and assist experts with leads and technical help.
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