AN ELCHE sex exploitation gang has been busted by the Policia Nacional with 10 female victims rescued.
The women had vulnerable backgrounds and travelled from South America, only to be treated as slaves in ‘deplorable conditions’, according to the police.
They had to be available to clients at all times in 24-hour shifts and could not go out alone with all of them living in an unhealthy overcrowded room.
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Anybody who tried to object was punished and deprived of most food for several days, with just meagre rations of bread and water.
Eight people have been arrested on suspicion of prostitution, drug trafficking, membership of a criminal group and human trafficking.
An Elche judge has imprisoned four of the group, including their ring-leader.
The suspects are five women and three men, of French, Venezuelan, Colombian and Ecuadorian nationality, aged between 21 and 65.
The Policia Nacional operation executed five raids, three of which were in brothels.
The main suspect- a woman with over 20 years of criminality behind her-, organised the distribution of tasks among the rest of the gang in a hierarchical way.
She is accused of creating a legal appearance to her activities to make it harder for investigators to uncover what was going on.
Her colleagues acted as a ‘call centre’ to hire out sexual services and exercised total control over the brothels where the women were exploited.
The organization had a large infrastructure that allowed it to control up to four brothel flats/villas, most of them in Elche.
One of the buildings alone generated over a revenue stream of €150,000 per month which allowed the gang to enjoy a high standard of living with luxury homes and high-end cars.
Police raids led to the removal of accounting books listing the services provided by the exploited women, phone and address books, drugs, €54,000 in cash, computer and mobile phone gear, and two cars.
Real estate assets valued at over €1 million belonging to the gang leader have been impounded.
