Roquetas Guardia Civil to the rescue

AN anti-vice operation in Almeria and Alicante resulted in four arrests last month.

The investigation began in October 2019 when two Venezuelan women approached a Guardia Civil patrol in Roquetas, seeking help.

They explained they had been lured to Alicante with offers of work and all travel expenses paid but were forced into prostitution, working in brothels owned by their “employers,” a Spanish couple.

This was the only way they could repay their air fares costing €1,500 and €2,300, they learnt.

Their earnings went directly to the Spanish couple aged 34 and 35 who added their board, lodging and clothing to what they owed.

Matters came to a head when clients complained to the owners about the women bursting into tears during “services.”

As a result, they were turned out into the street, with nothing but what they were wearing and warned that they must still pay off their debt.

They contacted friends in Europe who sent an immediate money transfer and gave them a Roquetas address where they could stay.

Increasingly frightened by their former employers’ threatening phone calls, they went to the Guardia Civil, triggering the investigation.

This resulted in the arrest of the Spanish couple as well as two Latin American women involved in recruiting and exploiting the victims.

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