Prostitutes trafficking ring busted in Spain

The Bulgarian and Spanish police busted a prostitutes trafficking ring in a joint operation codenamed Sofia, the Ministry of the Interior told a news conference Tuesday. The girls were promised jobs as waitresses and assistants on the Spanish islands of Lanzarote and Fuetreventura.

The police have been working on the case for almost two years. The mastermind of the ring, Kiril Djalev of Simitli (33), and his brother Velin succeeded in smuggling into Spain some 500 girls, mainly from Eastern Europe.

A total of 33 persons were arrested during the operation, including 15 Bulgarians. Ten of the arrested are women. There were also seven Spanish citizens, three Russians and two Romanians.

During the search the police found 16,000 euros, banking documents, passports, two cars, laptops, credit cards and notebooks with the services performed by each girls and the fees charged.

The ring recruited poor young girls restricting their movements on the islands and forcing them to prostitute. The ring took the girls passports and did not allow them to leave the country. The girls prostituted on a summer house and yacht that cost 1,200,000 euros and is owned by Kiril Djalev.

BTA