Police bust trafficking ring in Mallorca

NATIONAL POLICE officers busted a human trafficking ring in Mallorca.

In a joint operation conducted with German and Bulgarian law enforcement officials, Spanish police in Mallorca dismantled a human trafficking ring that would force women from Spain, Germany and Bulgaria into prostitution. The women would also be forced to sell drugs to their clients and steal from them.

The operation led to the arrest of 12 people, 11 Bulgarian nationals and one Spaniard, some of whom are alleged to be the ring leaders, and to the liberation of five women and a child.

Spanish police launched the operation in December after learning from Interpol that a Bulgarian national had been detained in Germany for human trafficking. It appears the man had already been arrested in Spain under similar charges. Further inquiries led the police to link the detained to a Mallorca-based criminal organisation that would force women from Bulgary, German and Spain into prostitution on the streets and in hostess bars on the island.

During house searches conducted in four Mallorca residences, police seized €9,305, £504 (€629), Fr.700 (€578), several computers, two cars and an undisclosed amount of documents and drugs.

The detained also stand accused of burglary, selling cocaine and methamphetamine and of stealing from the prostitutes’ clients when they would fall asleep.