Mossos d’Esquadra agents from the Central Organized Crime Area of ??the DIC, together with agents from the National Police, arrested on February 14, eight people, between 20 and 48 years old, to whom traffic crimes are attributed of human beings related to sexual exploitation and against the rights of workers, crimes against the rights of foreign citizens and membership in a criminal group.
On February 14, in a police operation, the investigators arrested the 8 investigated and carried out 7 entries and investigations in the towns of Barcelona, ??Calafell, Salou and Cabrils, where they closed the 6 homes where the victims were sexually exploited. . Several quantities of narcotic substances, 20,000 euros, as well as jewelry and various documentation, were seized in the homes investigated.
Investigators took statements from 14 women, of whom eight identified themselves as victims of coercive prostitution, four as victims of crimes against workers’ rights, and two others as victims of human trafficking.
The two victims of human trafficking were welcomed by entities dedicated and specialized in comprehensive help and recovery of victims of human trafficking. The detainees were brought to justice on February 16, 2024.
The investigation began at the end of 2020 following an identification at a checkpoint in La Jonquera in a vehicle where three people were traveling. Two of these people, a man and a woman, told the agents that they worked in a clandestine call center run by the person who took them to Catalonia, who in turn ran brothels distributed throughout Catalonia. As a result of these events, the Central Unit against Human Trafficking of the DIC began an investigation. Within the framework of participation in CITCO, it was detected that these people coincided in another National Police investigation, which led to the start of a joint investigation team.
In August 2022, investigators carried out an inspection of a brothel located in Salou (Tarragona), where they were able to verify that sexual services were offered. In the framework of the subsequent investigation, the agents confirmed that the women who practiced prostitution lived in terrible situations: crammed on mattresses in the basement, without heating in winter, or ventilation, as well as no natural light. In addition, abusive working conditions were imposed on them.
On May 11, 2023, the agents carried out a new inspection in a property in Barcelona, ??where, in the same way as in the property in Salou, seven women were detected in an irregular situation, practicing prostitution and in inhumane conditions.
The investigation has been able to prove the existence of a criminal organization, led by a woman and a man who, in addition to the dismantled brothels, were in charge of a clandestine call center, in which four victims worked as telephone operators between 12 and 15 hours a day, seven days a week. They received a remuneration of 1,000 euros, they only enjoyed one free hour a day and they did not have gas or hot water, in addition to receiving threats and humiliation from those responsible for the organization.
From this call center the contracting of sexual services in the brothels was managed, as well as their organization and the offering of narcotic substances to their clients.
