Sex trafficking
May 13, 2011
German police have conducted raids at over 1,000 brothels around the country in a major operation investigating people smuggling from West Africa into Europe.
Enforcement officials collected evidence of intimidation and exploitation among many of the women working in the bordellos, around 170 of whom were believed to have come from West Africa.
Many of the women appeared to be working under duress, the Federal Crime Office in the city of Wiesbaden said.
"The goal was to identify victims of trafficking from West Africa and to gather information about possible traffickers," the federal police said in a statement following the raids Thursday night.
Agents from the European Union police agency, Europol, accompanied their German counterparts as part of an investigation into whether the suspected West African connection was also prevalent in other EU countries.
Similar raids were conducted in February around Germany, where prostitution in legal; however, police fear many women from West Africa are shipped into the country illegally and forced into prostitution.
Police said traffickers often rely on fear of witchcraft to silence the women.
Author: Darren Mara (AFP, dpa)
Editor: