A network exploiting women in clandestine brothels in Barcelona and Paris has been dismantled.
The victims were forced to prostitute themselves at any time and to sell or use drugs with clients if they wanted.
The Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) have dismantled a criminal network that sexually exploited women in clandestine brothels in Barcelona and also operated one in Paris. The victims were forced into prostitution at any time of day and were also required to sell or use drugs with clients if they so desired. After nearly a year and a half of investigation, the police have arrested the woman who ran the brothels, and eight other people are under investigation in connection with the case. The arrested woman allegedly led the network along with her partner and her mother. Other women were also involved, managing the brothels, where the victims were monitored by closed-circuit video surveillance. The investigation began in September 2024 following the testimony of a woman who told officers from the human trafficking unit that she had worked for months as a receptionist in various clandestine brothels in Barcelona where women were being sexually exploited. The Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) explained in a statement this Sunday that this witness recounted how the women were forced into prostitution, "with complete availability and subjected to strict cyber-control" with a video surveillance system in the apartments. The case has been taken over by agents from the human trafficking unit under the direction of the Prosecutor's Office for Immigration and Human Trafficking. The initial stages of the investigation already indicated that the network was run by the arrested woman, her partner, and her mother, while other women were responsible for monitoring the apartments. The initial inquiries also led agents to suspect that the network itself might control brothels in other European capitals. Key testimonies
In early 2025, the police identified one of the exploited women, who explained that she had traveled to Spain to work as a prostitute on her own. She did so for a few months, until a woman promised her better pay and greater security if she worked as a prostitute in a Barcelona apartment run by an acquaintance. The promise was a deception, and the woman who met her in Barcelona saddled her with an exorbitant debt for the trip there. From then on, she forced her to prostitute herself and sell drugs to her clients. Following this testimony, investigators found a second victim who had been in the same situation before managing to escape. As time passed, the group's leader closed the apartments she used as clandestine brothels in Barcelona and shifted the women to working in hotels or at clients' homes. The investigation has also confirmed that the woman opened a brothel in an apartment in Paris's 15th arrondissement and transferred at least four of the victims she had already exploited in Barcelona. To attract clients, the arrested woman posted advertisements on various internet portals and at one point had around 70 active listings. She advertised on websites offering sex work not only in Spain and France, but also in Switzerland—where she resided for a month—Italy, Luxembourg, and Germany. Police have carried out three raids in Barcelona and seized fifteen cell phones belonging to the women who ran the brothels, as well as other items that are currently being analyzed.
