Spanish police announced today that they had uncovered a Chinese criminal organization that was bringing Asian women, including minors, to Spain, Greece and the United States for prostitution.
Police arrested 30 people, freed 33 victims, including one minor, and closed two brothels.
The Chinese criminal organization was a violent network that did not hesitate to use firearms and other types of cold weapons to commit crimes or attack "rival groups," police said.
The organization exploited the "vulnerability" of young women by promising them a "better future" abroad, but in reality intended to "exploit them through prostitution in Greece, Spain and the USA."
Some minors were sold to heads of other clans for further exploitation.
In Spain, the women were forced into prostitution in Madrid, Barcelona and Zaragoza "in conditions close to slavery." They had to be available "24 hours a day, seven days a week" until they paid off a debt incurred by organizing their trip to Europe, which amounted to about 20.000 euros, according to a police statement.
30 people were arrested, most in Barcelona (13) and Madrid (12).
The criminal organization also ran an illegal immigration network by providing forged documents, mainly to Chinese people, to travel to Europe, from where they were sent to Central America before arriving in the United States.
The mafia network was also involved in other criminal activities, including extortion and drug trafficking. The traffickers were tasked with recruiting minors to sell ketamine and other substances, Spanish police added.
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