The Civil Guard has dismantled, within the framework of operation MATE, a criminal organization based in the provinces of Tarragona and Castellon dedicated to trafficking in human beings for sexual exploitation.
Within the operation, the agents nine victims have been released and they have arrested the leaders of the organization, a 37-year-old woman and a 32-year-old man, as well as four other members of the criminal group, according to the Civil Guard in a statement.
Overcrowded and in terrible conditions
The Civil Guard began this operation at the beginning of 2024 after learning that in several locations in Alcanar and Vinaroz there were sexually exploited women.
During the investigation, the agents verified that prostitution was carried out in a place and in a homewhere several women offered sexual services without having an employment contract or the documentation necessary to legally reside in Spain.
The Civil Guard also confirmed that these women had limited freedom of movement. The agents confirmed that, when trafficking victims had to be transferred to another of the places where they were also exploited, they were accompanied at all times by members of the criminal organization.
Likewise, some of the victims lived in the same place where they were forced to practice prostitution, living overcrowded and in terrible hygienic-sanitary conditions. The criminal network exercised tight control over them, both with personnel who carried out surveillance work and with video surveillance systems installed in the homes where they lived.
As the primary means of attract clientsthe criminal organization used internet pages dedicated to offering services of a sexual nature.
With the benefits of said activity, the members of the organization also acquired 80 tenths of the Christmas Lottery to be able to launder the hypothetical prize. In parallel, possible shipments of money from trafficking activity to Latin America are being investigated.
Operation MATE
During the first phase of the MATE operation, the Civil Guard proceeded to arrest the two leaders and carried out three searches in properties in Alcanar and Vinaroz. There, 6,270 euros were seized, computer devices with information related to the recruitment of the women and documentation, as well as notes with the services performed and the payments obtained by the victims.
During the second phasefour more members of the criminal organization were identified, in charge of logistics and transporting the women to the places where they were exploited. These people also carried out transportation to pick up the women who arrived in Spain under the false promise of a work contractmoving them to the places where they were going to be exploited.
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