Spanish Police Arrest 63 After Busting Chinese Sex Trafficking Ring
Following a tip from a Chinese national, Spanish authorities have arrested 63 people accused of operating a human trafficking ring, importing women from China to two cities in Spain for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
Of the 63 detained, 60 are Chinese nationals while two are Spanish and one is a Pakistani national. 50 were arrested in Bilbao, 13 in Zaragoza and one in Madrid where the network had already rented an apartment to extend their activity into the city, newspaper El Mundoreports.
🚩Desmantelada una red criminal dedicada a la trata de seres humanos y explotación sexual de mujeres chinas
Tenía 2 ramas delictivas, diferenciadas y coordinadas entre sí, en #Zaragoza y #Bilbao
🔹63 detenidos en Bilbao (50), Zaragoza (12) y #Madrid (1)
🔹5 mujeres liberadas pic.twitter.com/CszmHCqieh— Policía Nacional (@policia) January 18, 2022
The network is said to have been allegedly led by a Chinese woman who has been a resident of Spain for 15 years and was previously arrested in Barcelona for similar charges.
According to investigators, vulnerable women from China in their 40s were lured to Spain under false promises of a better life but ended up being kept in apartments of two to three women where they were sexually exploited.
The women are also said to have paid the network between 8-10,000 euros (£6,663-8,329/$9,060-11,325), with the group earning as much as five million euros (£4.16 million/$5.66 million) in total profits from its activity.
During a press conference this week, police thanked the Chinese national who tipped them off to the activity of the network, stating that he was now a protected witness but clarified he was not a client of the network.
Earlier this month, Spanish investigators dismantled another sexual exploitation network that sexually abused children. Like the Chinese trafficking network, it was also largely run by foreign nationals from the Dominican Republic as well as Moroccans, Nigerians and Cubans.
One of the leaders of the exploration network is said to have sold his own underage 16-year-old daughter to clients for sex while passing her off as an adult.
The child sex network is also alleged to have used a YouTube rapper to lure underage girls to exploit through social media. Dominican Republic national rapper Saymol, 21, was also arrested in connection to the network.
Alleged Head of Child Exploitation Ring Accused of Prostituting Own Daughter https://t.co/zicbk78KVU
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) January 7, 2022
