Charlie Smith
THREE men and two women have been arrested in Vicar, Almeria for running a prostitution ring that held 22 women against their will.
Police freed the prostitutes, who were from Guinea-Bissau, Colombia, Honduras and Nigeria, as part of ‘Operation Cacique’, an investigation into a sex trafficking gang.
The sex workers were forced to prostitute themselves for €10 per 10 minutes on small, dirty camp beds all in the same room.
Police also found that voodoo or black magic was used to intimidate the women if they refused to have sex and that their captors would also fine them €50.
The women were locked overnight in the room where they were forced to have sex, and would be let out each morning by one of their captors.
The investigation began 12 days ago when UCRIF agents, who deal with human trafficking, were called for.
Authorities were tipped off by a woman who was accosted by a Barcelona member of the gang, while she was looking at some posters trying to find a job.
She was transported by the gang to the town of Vicar, where she was falsely promised work in the hospitality industry.
Her story was corroborated by four other women who had similar experiences.
All five of the gang stand accused of: being part of a criminal gang, trafficking human beings for sexual exploitation and crimes related to prostitution.
A judge at the court of the Magistrate’s Court of Instruction in Almeria has sent four of the them to prison already.
