Agents of the Civil Guard and the National Police have dismantled a criminal organization dedicated to human trafficking for sexual exploitation and released twelve victims. Those involved confined the victims to the basement of a chalet, a windowless space where they slept crowded together in unsanitary conditions. Twelve people have been arrested, one of them in Arrecife.
The victims were subjected to a photo shoot in order to be promoted on internet pages where sexual services were offered, among the victims was a person with an intellectual disability. The property where the victims were exploited was also used to traffic drugs, forcing the women to transport them when they had outings.
Crowded in a basement
The members of the organization recruited the victims in South American countries, through deception, taking advantage of their situation of vulnerability and promising them decent and well-paid jobs. The criminal network took care of all the procedures and expenses necessary for them to enter Spain. Once the victims were in Spain, they were informed that they had contracted an economic debt with the organization, which tripled the real costs of the trip and that it should be paid with the exercise of prostitution, being transferred to a chalet located in Madrid.
Here the women were subjected to strict control, forcing them to remain inside and fined if they did not comply with the conditions imposed on them, so they lived in inhuman conditions, all crowded in a basement without windows. The victims had to pay 100 euros for their stay in the chalet and between 16 and 20 euros for food. They had to be available 24 hours a day and perform eight hours of effective sexual services a day if they wanted to enjoy two free hours a day. During their exploitation they were forced to perform two sexual services with each client and oral sex without a condom.
Also in the chalet cocaine was trafficked, which they had to transport when they went outside. The victims were subjected to a photo shoot in order to be promoted on Internet pages offering sexual services, among the victims was a person with a degree of intellectual disability of 67%.
Police investigation
The criminal organization was composed of members of South American origin who had family ties between them, had a strong infrastructure in Spain, where the existence of a property used as a brothel or dating house stood out. The operation has discovered that those involved charged the amount of 1,244,767.49 euros through a payment platform.
12 people have been arrested, 11 in the province of Madrid and one in the province of Las Palmas, specifically in Arrecife, as alleged participants in the commission of the crimes of human trafficking, membership of a criminal organization, related to prostitution, against the rights of foreign citizens, pornography and against public health. The entry and search of two properties has been carried out, one in the city of Madrid and another in the town of Fuentidueña de Tajo (Madrid), where 12 victims have been released and various effects have been seized, including more than 30,000 euros, 30 grams of cocaine, 13 grams of marijuana and various documentation related to the investigated activities.
The Civil Guard, against Human Trafficking
This operation is part of the Civil Guard's actions against Human Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation. The Civil Guard has the email trata@guardiacivil.es to facilitate citizen collaboration and the anonymous and confidential reporting of this type of crime.