Police raids five brothels and nine homes in the province of Almeria

19:17 El NACHO 0 Comments

Authorities raided five brothels and nine homes in the province of Almeria, arresting 13 people suspected of leading the ring.
Police in southern Spain arrested 60 people Thursday in a crackdown on a human trafficking ring that forced an estimated 2,000 Russian women into prostitution, an official said.
Authorities raided five brothels and nine homes in the province of Almeria, arresting 13 people suspected of leading the ring, said Juan Jose Lopez Garzon, the head of the Spanish Interior Ministry office in the Andalusia region, which includes Almeria.
All 13 have been charged with illegal trafficking of people for sexual exploitation, prostitution and offenses against the rights of foreign citizens and workers. Police found 34 Russian women in four of the brothels and arrested them for being in Spain without residency papers.
Investigators believe the women were brought to Spain with fake documentation and kept under strict lockdown in the nightclubs where they were forced to work.
During the raids, police found €21,000 (US$28,350) in cash, nine cars, five computers, gold, passports and plane tickets.
Investigations into the ring began in November 2006, when government authorities were alerted to large transactions with Russian money taking place in foreign currency exchange outlets.
Police estimate the total amount of money sent by the traffickers to Russia to be more than €55,000 (US$74,250). Police continue to search for more Russian victims of the ring in Spain.