July 1 () –
Eleven members of a network of trafficking and sexual exploitation of women brought from Latin America have been arrested during the day on Friday in the Greek regions of Attica and Thessaloniki, as reported by the authorities this Saturday.
The operation has been carried out in thirteen brothels in which 51 victims have been rescued, 48 of whom were Colombian, two were Venezuelan and one was Albanian. All of them have received assistance, according to the Greek radio station Athina984.
The detainees belonged to two criminal organizations involved in the trafficking and sexual exploitation of foreign citizens since at least July 2020. They are also accused of laundering funds obtained from criminal activities. Another eleven people, all women, have been arrested for working in these premises.
Charges have been filed for belonging to a criminal organization, human trafficking, non-compliance with licensing regulations, violations of the regulations for the prosecution of terrorist financing activities, data protection, drug and firearms violations. In addition, arrest warrants have been issued for four other suspects.
The suspects demanded from the victims an alleged debt of between 2,600 and 2,800 euros and thus forced them into prostitution, leaving them a small part of the profits. Women were humiliated and threatened into working even if they had health problems. The network obtained more than 160,000 euros of benefits per month.
