Czech police dismantle prostitution network
Central Europe
With a large police operation in several countries, Czech, Finnish and Hungarian authorities dismantled a criminal network suspected of human trafficking.
More than 90 victims were liberated and 13 people arrested, Europol announced, as reported by Euractiv. The police operation is still ongoing as more than 400 victims of Czech, Hungarian and Romanian nationality were counted in total, Europol announced.
Most of the victims came from the Czech Republic. They were mainly trafficked to Finland and other Scandinavian countries, Euractive writes. According to the Czech police, the suspects transported the women to red-light districts and advertised their services online. The victims worked under extreme conditions and were threatened by the members of the criminal network, Europol reports.
The money the women earned was split among the traffickers. In total, the perpetrators are believed to have made at least 3.3 million euros. During the searches, the police officers seized 200,000 euros in cash, four luxury cars, three apartments, 40 mobile phones, four laptops and four tablets, a shotgun and ammunition. In addition, eight bank accounts were frozen, according to Euractiv.
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