Arrests made against Mallorca’s prostituting mafias

POLICE have struck a hard blow against Mallorca’s prostituting mafias.

Agents of the UCRIF (Central Unit for Illegal Immigration Networks and
Documentary Falsifications) have arrested 12 people during an
operation against human trafficking. The operation started when
National Police broke into a brothel in Palma’s  calle Joan Alcover.
According to sources close to the investigation, the ‘club’ is known
to be one of the most important and active in Mallorca when it comes
to prostitution.

Some 25 agents from the UCRIF and the UPR (Prevention and Reaction
Unit) entered the building and managed to free eight women who had
been forced into prostitution.

Police say the club was the base for many transsexuals and women to
carry out their illegal sexual activities, often against their will.
All of them were advertised through internet sites and thousand advertisements.

Among those arrested are the alleged two ringleaders of the suspected
criminal ring. A series of searches were carried out at numerous other
addresses in the days following the initial raid. A large number of
women and transsexuals engaged in prostitution were discovered.

The police have confirmed that the women and transsexuals found in the
brothel on calle Joan Alcover were engaged in prostitution against
their will. The women came to the Islands from Brazil having been
deceived with the promise of a job.