In a coordinated effort on May 24, 2024, Europol, in collaboration with the Spanish National Police (Policía National), successfully dismantled a criminal network involved in trafficking Ukrainian and Belarusian nationals for sexual exploitation in Spain.
Operation Details
The operation, centered in Almería, Spain, targeted a criminal group that had been active since 2020. The group utilized deceptive online recruitment tactics, posing as managers of a recruitment agency offering job opportunities in the entertainment and tourist sectors. Victims were promised refugee visas and financial support amid the conflict in Ukraine, only to be coerced into prostitution upon arrival in Spain.
The criminal group, active since 2020, recruited its victims online, mainly through social media platforms while presenting themselves as managers in a recruitment agency. The victims were lured with job offers for hostesses and front-of-house roles. The alleged traffickers then exploited the women, mainly Ukrainian, but also Belarusian nationals, in a prostitution club in El Ejido (Almería), Spain.
The victims were targeted based on their nationality and brought to Spain with tourist visas while being promised legitimate work in the entertainment and tourist industry. Once in Spain, they were instructed to apply for temporary protection due to the war in Ukraine. Following this process, the victims were granted residency in Spain. The young women were promised work authorization benefits that come with this protection.
However, they were deceived by the suspects. The victims did not receive any employment contract and they were then exploited through prostitution activities. The criminal group generated vast illegal proceeds through the exploitation of large numbers of women.
The victims were accommodated in three homes provided by the same individual who managed the nightclub. By isolating the victims from the rest of society, the traffickers attempted to minimize the risks of police detection or the escape of the women, allowing them to restrain, control and fully exploit the victims.
