Spain busts South American sex-trafficking pipeline

Police in southeastern Alicante, Spain, on Sunday announced the arrest of 48 individuals as well as the rescue of 48 women, mostly from Colombia and Venezuela, during a series of raids on eight properties, including three brothels.

"The victims, mainly of South American origin, were lured to Spain with bogus job offers," said police.

The ringleaders, a Spanish man and two Colombian women, are said to have abducted more than 1,000 women over the past year. The women arrived in Spain to work in the cleaning and beauty sectors but instead "they were taken to clubs where they were sexually exploited," said police. 

In the end, they lived as prostitutes at a network of premises disguised to look like boarding houses or hostels.

Beyond being "forced to work all hours," police say the women were kept under permanent video surveillance and not allowed to be outside for more than two hours each day.

Spanish police seize guns, money, properties in bust

The weekend raids largely took place in Alicante and Murcia.

Police say they closed down three strip clubs and seized 17 properties, as well as confiscating weapons,  €150,000 ($157,000) in cash and blocking bank accounts containing €938,000.

A total of six of those arrested remain in pre-trial detention, the others were released on bail. Property managers and "taxi drivers" who shuttled the women between sites were among those arrested.

Police say the discovery of the transnational trafficking network was triggered by an anonymous tipoff to a dedicated police hotline. 

Police say they received 8,051 citizen complaints last year, adding that some 1,025 of these provided helpful operational information.