The Greek government has disassembled a criminal group that notoriously trafficked Colombian women to Greece and forced them to perform sex work at apartments and strip clubs, according to police reports.
Earlier this eek, Police officials arrested the purported leader and eight members of the sex trafficking ring that has been operating since around 2019, the police further said in a statement, adding that in total, 29 women have been offered protection and support.
The official reports viewed by Reuters revealed that the operation was assisted by non-governmental organisations.
The women had been promised jobs as strip club dancers in Greece on high incomes but upon arrival, their identification documents were confiscated instead. They were also reportedly held in apartments in Athens and worked at two night clubs, owned by the suspected crime ring leader, where they were compelled to have sex with clients to pay off the debts the suspects claimed they owed.
When the police got wind of this information based on the testimony of one of the victims, they launched an investigation, raiding the apartments, the suspects’ homes and the strip clubs as well as confiscating cash, knives, bullets and documents related to the group’s activities.
Two more men, including one living in Colombia, have been identified as members of the crime ring and are now at large, police concluded.
