Uruguay Remains Hub For Trafficking Women to Europe
HUMAN TRAFFICKING
/ 16 MAR 2021 BY GABRIELLE GORDER
A collaborative effort by authorities in Uruguay and Spain to dismantle an international sex trafficking network reveals that the South American country remains a source of women trafficked to Europe.
In late February, Uruguay’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that an Interpol operation had succeeded in dismantling a network that trafficked at least 29 women to Spain since 2017. The women reported being held captive and exploited sexually, according to Interpol.
The operation involved six simultaneous raids across Uruguay and Spain. Three took place at residencies in Montevideo, Uruguay’s capital. The other raids took place in Spain: two in the city of Guadalajara and one at an estate in Alcalá de Henares.
Eight people — five in Spain and three in Uruguay — have been arrested on charges of participating in the human trafficking network. Four were women and seven were of Uruguayan nationality.
The women who were trafficked, authorities said, were coerced with false job opportunities in Spain. But once they arrived at the Alcalá de Henares estate, they were forced into prostitution to pay off travel, room and board debts demanded by the traffickers, Europa Press reported. The tactic is a common human trafficking method.
More:
https://insightcrime.org/news/uruguay-remains-hub-for-trafficking-women-to-europe/
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