Agents of the National Police, in a joint operation with Customs Surveillance of the Tax Agency, have dismantled a criminal organization allegedly dedicated to trafficking in human beings for the purposes of sexual exploitation and have freed 27 women, including minors, who were prostituted in four hostess clubs in the south of the island of Tenerife. There are 14 people detained, among whom are the two leaders, of Venezuelan nationality, of the criminal network.
The police investigation began in July 2024 after receiving an email from the National Police’s Assistance Service for Victims of Human Trafficking. This communication warned of the presence in Santa Cruz de Tenerife of a couple who allegedly ran four hostess clubs and who had various women under their control. According to the alert, both would be responsible for a criminal organization dedicated to human trafficking for sexual exploitation.
27 women released and 14 people arrested in an operation against trafficking in women, occurred in Tenerife, Spain. Several of those released are of Colombian origin. video capture
The investigations carried out by the investigators revealed that the ringleaders made periodic trips to various countries in South America, where they recruited young women in extremely vulnerable situations from impoverished backgrounds. The victims, several of them Colombian nationals, were recruited through deception, false promises of employment and expectations of a better life, with the sole objective of sexually exploiting them upon their arrival in Spain.
Once captured, the victims traveled to our country acquiring a debt with the organization that could reach 3,000 euros and which they had to pay off by performing sexual services. They were housed in different properties on the Tenerife island that they shared with other women in the same situation for which they also had to pay, being forced to live in very precarious conditions and subject to strict control regulations. Upon arrival, they remained on the island for three months to avoid being detected as illegal by police services.
Drug use and scams against clients
The women, who had initially agreed to come to work in Spain as striptease dancers, realized when they joined the clubs that the reality was very different. In them they were forced to practice prostitution for long hours and forced to consume narcotic substances, and sometimes they were even drugged by members of the organization without their knowledge in order to achieve their disinhibition.
Likewise, the members of the organization took advantage of clients who came in a state of intoxication or by supplying narcotic substances that broke their will, in order to be able to carry out different scams using credit cards, making expenses in the premises and withdrawing money from ATMs, with investigators being able to corroborate frauds worth more than €70,000.
Minors
During the development of the investigation, the agents were able to verify the sexual exploitation of minors within the establishments controlled by the network, locating a minor under 16 years of age inside one of the clubs who was carrying a forged document.
In the final phase of the operation, the entry and search was carried out in seven homes, three hostess clubs and a management office on the Island of Tenerife, where abundant incriminating documentation and various high-value assets were seized, including 90,000 euros in cash, a high-end vehicle, various luxury watches, various jewelry and numerous mobile terminals.
With the profits obtained, those investigated would have managed to accumulate personal assets that include various real estate properties and large amounts of money.