Sabinillas and La Línea arrests in Romanian prostitution ring

SABINILLAS/LA LINEA/ASTURIAS (Agencies) The National Police station, together with counterparts in Cádiz, Málaga and Asturias, broke up a gang of Romanian men that sexually exploited their own countrywomen. The operation resulted in the arrest of 15 people, one of them in La Línea, of which 10 were men and part of the gang, and five were women victims released later. Eight of the arrests took place in Sabinillas and another six in Gijón (Asturias), where a club de alterne (a handy euphemism for a brothel) was checked. The operation began last December, when the National Police detected that a gang was operating in the area, forcing Romanian women into prostitution on the streets (photo), or at brothels in the Campo de Gibraltar and in Sabinillas, and was expanding into the rest of the country.>In a method used frequently by similar gangs the world over, the organization recruited women on false pretences in their country of origin, offering well paid jobs in Spain. Once here, the women found that they had to become prostitutes in order to pay back the 'cost' of bringing them over. This, according to the Police, never actually happened, as the women were often fined heavily for minor offences.

Extensive and difficult operations took place for several months, including regular traffic stops for suspects -two in the area and one in Estepona- but enough evidence (vehicles, houses, identified people, etc) had been gathered by last Tuesday to begin the arrests, which, according to National Police sources, has resulted in the complete eradication of the gang.