Croatian, Spanish police bust sex slave ring

ZAGREB - Agence France-Presse

Hürriyet photo

Croatian and Spanish police have dismantled a women trafficking ring which forced their victims into prostitution and detained at least 10 suspects, HINA news agency reported Tuesday.

It is believed that girls from Croatia, Bulgaria, Moldova, Serbia and Ukraine were lured by the ring promising jobs in Spain where they were eventually forced into prostitution, police said about the joint operation.
 
Seven Croatian nationals were detained, while three Croatian victims of trafficking were put in a safe house. In Spain three people suspected of being part of the ring were detained, HINA quoted police as saying.
 
The operation, which lasted several months, was dubbed 'Catalunya' (Catalonia) after Spain's northeastern region where the victims were forced into prostitution, mostly in the resort of Lloret de Mar on the Costa Brava.
 
Croatia lies on the so-called Balkans route used by criminals to smuggle people, drugs and weapons to Western Europe.