National Police agents have released four victims of human trafficking for sexual exploitation and have arrested members of a criminal organization that operated on several of the Canary Islands, including Lanzarote. Those arrested are a man and three women aged 35, 26, 36 and 38 years old respectively and of Venezuelan nationality, with no police record.
According to the Police, "those involved recruited women with economic needs in Venezuela and transferred them to the Canary Islands, where they were forced to prostitute themselves in homes and nightclubs".
Police investigations began at the end of last year. The agents became aware of the existence of a criminal organization, made up of three women and a man, dedicated to human trafficking for sexual exploitation in the province of Las Palmas.
"The investigated parties recruited young Venezuelan women between 20 and 30 years of age who suffered economic hardship, offering them to come to Spain to engage in prostitution, which they agreed to as it was the only way to provide sustenance to their relatives who remained in Venezuela," the Police explain.
The organization covered the costs of transferring the women to Gran Canaria, "in exchange for an initial debt that usually amounted to around 5,000 euros and that was later doubled in many cases for no apparent reason by the members of the criminal network."
Exploitation in homes and nightclubs
The defendants transferred them to clubs and homes located in several municipalities of Gran Canaria and in the town of Arrecife on the island of Lanzarote.
"After engaging in prostitution for a certain number of days, the victims were rotated to other homes of the organization under the requirement of fulfilling the payment of the debt incurred," explains the Police, who adds that "the women were subjected to strict control and threatened when they did not meet the expectations of the organization that exploited them."
After being brought to justice after their arrest, the four detainees were placed in provisional detention pending trial, as alleged perpetrators of the crimes of human trafficking for sexual exploitation, facilitation of illegal immigration, criminal organization and prostitution.
"No deal with trafficking"
This operation is part of the National Police Plan against Trafficking in Human Beings for Sexual Exploitation. The National Police has the telephone line 900 10 50 90 and the email trata@policia.es to facilitate citizen collaboration and the anonymous and confidential reporting of this type of crime, with the call not being reflected on the telephone bill.
The police intervention was carried out by agents of the Provincial Immigration and Borders Brigade of Las Palmas and the Maspalomas Police Station.