With round-the-clock availability, some victims were forced to perform prostitution even when sick or on their menstrual cycle. These young Colombian women were recruited in their home country by an organization that made false promises and then coerced them into working in a Alicante brothel under harsher conditions. They incurred a debt of about 3,000 euros for travel from Colombia to Spain. A protected witness testified to the involvement of the network, and national police authorities arrested four people in Alicante and Murcia while searching for four more individuals who had reportedly escaped the country. Among those sought are a Colombian man and his wife, identified as leaders of a criminal organization that traffics people for sexual exploitation.
That couple, whose 20-year-old daughter was arrested in Murcia, reportedly fled back to their homeland and has not returned. The case is overseen by Education Court No. 9 in Alicante. Police investigations indicate that extradition requests to Colombian authorities for those involved in the prostitution network are likely, with the group allegedly taking a substantial share of profits from the young workers.
flight risk
Among those detained in Alicante is a 38-year-old Colombian woman who traveled to Spain to engage in prostitution and later became the manager of the brothel where police located clients. Because she faced the risk of fleeing, authorities permitted her to remain in custody after providing her statement with the assistance of the prosecutor and her lawyer, Antonio Gascon Castillo.
The protected witness who exposed this case of sexual exploitation knew the arrangements involved prostitution in Spain would continue, but the promised terms as a “companion lady” did not materialize. The young woman, like many vulnerable women from South American countries, accepted an offer to move from Colombia to work as a prostitute in an Alicante apartment controlled by the network.
The witness lived in Colombia with her mother and sister. Facing economic hardship, she fell into the grasp of a group dedicated to exploiting young women. A student friend already in Spain connected her with a relative who could arrange the move, sending Colombian girls in precarious situations toward the peninsula.
profits
The witness provided a contact number, which was then shared with a Colombian couple living in Murcia and connected to Alicante. The promise was a normal life with freedom to leave the house and choose whether to take clients, but the reality was far different. Travel expenses accumulated to around 3,000 euros, which were intended to be repaid through earnings from prostitution. The young woman traveled from Bogota to Barcelona with another compatriot, then to Alicante, where they were placed under the control of a woman who ran the operation.
Initially, the two victims were introduced to a man and a woman responsible for the scheme, who later appeared at the house to supervise the sales of sexual services on provocative websites. Conditions in Spain did not reflect what had been promised. Workers were required to be available to clients around the clock and could not refuse service, even if it caused discomfort. Three months passed as the debts were paid down, and the workers were then permitted to leave the brothel. One victim later relocated to Madrid to report the situation to the police, while another remained in Alicante to continue paying off the debt.
Detained suspects are also accused of drug offenses, including cocaine and erectile drugs, which they supplied to clients, as corroborated by both the protected witness and a subsequent detainee in Alicante. During searches in Murcia, authorities seized drugs, cash, and precision scales, and a ledger detailing drug sale earnings was found in an Alicante apartment.
Police accuse the detainees of sexual exploitation, prostitution, drug trafficking, and human trafficking as part of membership in a criminal organization. The operation was conducted by the Central Human Trafficking Brigade and the UCRIF in Alicante, Elche, and Murcia.