An international human trafficking network dismantled in southern Europe

A “

particularly sophisticated

”

international network

of human trafficking has been dismantled across four European countries and around thirty victims from South America and Romania have been taken care of, the Montpellier prosecutor announced on Friday (March 5th).

Read also: Bulgaria at the heart of human trafficking

Thirteen people were arrested simultaneously on Tuesday, in Spain, Italy, Romania and France, said Fabrice Bélargent, adding that a judicial investigation for aggravated pimping and trafficking in human beings in an organized gang was opened.

An investigating judge from Montpellier centralized the investigation within the framework of judicial and police cooperation between the countries concerned.

This “

two-headed

” and “

family

” network, “

particularly sophisticated is made up of people of Romanian and Colombian nationality

,” said the prosecutor.

“

The victims were recruited in their country, attracted by the hope of better days and brought back to France.

Then they were locked in AirBnB type apartments (seasonal rental editor's note), under threat to their person and their family,

”he detailed, adding that the young women were under the surveillance of cameras.

33 victims aged 18 to 35

Thirty-three victims - Colombians, Dominicans, Paraguayans and Romanians aged 18 to 35 - have so far been identified and taken care of by associations.

In France, two people were indicted and placed under arrest warrant Thursday in Montpellier.

In Italy and Romania, two others were arrested and imprisoned.

In Spain, eight people of Colombian nationality were arrested.

Five of them have been imprisoned and three are under house arrest.

All are the subject of a European arrest warrant and await a possible transfer to France.

Finally, a hotelier from Perpignan was released but his file will be disjointed and processed in this city.

The investigation, carried out by the territorial directorate of the Montpellier judicial police and by the Central Office for the Suppression of Trafficking in Human Beings (OCRTEH), began in June 2020 at the Montpellier police station.

17 French cities concerned

Two young Colombian women came forward after fleeing from an apartment where they had been held captive and forced into prostitution for several weeks.

From June to February 2021, investigators uncovered a network whose bridgeheads are located in France and relying on a telephone backbase installed in Barcelona (north-eastern Spain).

Almost all of the profits were transferred to Romania and Colombia.

A small part was left to young women.

"

A system of rotation between different cities

" aimed to "

destabilize the victims

", added the prosecutor, specifying that the network was rife in at least 17 French cities, including Tarbes, Niort, Cholet (Maine-et-Loire), Saint- Paul-les-Dax (Landes) and Montpellier.