Police disrupts organised crime group involved in women trafficking

The operation was carried out under the supervision of the Specilised Prosecutor's Office. All three members of the crime group have been indicted.

The investigation of the criminal activity was carried out by employees of the sector "Combatting Organized Crime" - Plovdiv, Pazardzhik and Smolyan under the supervision of the Specialized Prosecutor's Office. In the course of the operation, data were obtained about the members of the organized criminal group - two men, 42 and 27 years old, and a 28-year-old woman who had been active in the territory of Plovdiv and Haskovo since the beginning of 2019, without hierarchical levels and specific manager.

According to initial information, the 42-year-old man, who was previously convicted, was engaged in recruiting and transporting girls to provide paid sex services at casinos and bars in Svilengrad. The other two, found clients for the "service" offered. The investigation identified 11 girls used by the group in different periods from 2019 to the beginning of this year.

The specialized operation aimed at disrupting the criminal activity and arresting the participants took place on 10 and 11 January by police officers from the Directorate for Combatting Organised Crime - Plovdiv, Pazardzhik and Smolyan with the support of their colleagues from the sector in Haskovo and Kardzhali and in Stara Zagora.

As a result of the joint work, the three members of the crime ring were identified and detained in the territory of Svilengrad.

Operational actions are ongoing to identify other victims of trafficking as well as potential peripheral and secondary victims of the group's criminal activity.