The Department of Aliens Police, Identification and Trafficking in Human Beings (AVIM) of the Rotterdam Police, together with Romanian police colleagues and the Directorate for Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism – Constanta Territorial Office, arrested nine suspects in the Netherlands and Romania on 30 January on suspicion of human trafficking.
The suspects, four men in the Netherlands and four men and a woman in Romania, are aged between 22 and 29. They are also accused of money laundering, extortion and unlawful deprivation of liberty. The suspects are provisionally detained and will be brought before the examining judge on Friday.
The victims, all between the ages of 19 and 25, were recruited in Romania by the main suspect to work in prostitution in the Netherlands. In addition to the main suspect and his wife, a number of other suspects were arrested. They served as drivers for the women who worked as prostitutes.
To achieve yesterday’s positive result, the Dutch authorities cooperated with the Romanian authorities, Eurojust and Europol within a joint investigation team (JIT) formed in September 2017.
