Human trafficking gang busted

2010-06-18 18:28

Bucharest - Italian and Romanian authorities dismantled a human trafficking network that sexually exploited more than 150 women including minors, police said on Friday.

"There was a joint action in Italy and Romania today (on Friday)" to detain "procuring and human trafficking suspects", a statement from the Romanian police said.

Authorities detained 14 people in several regions of Romania in response to European warrants issued by a court in Milan. Police identified a 15th suspect already imprisoned in another affair.

A total of 26 people were nabbed in Italy on Friday.

Fifty-seven people, most of them Romanians, were involved in the network.

An officer said several Italians, an Albanian and an Egyptian were also part of the gang.

According to the authorities, the network had "recruited, transported and forced into prostitution" more than 150 women in Monza, Milan and other Italian cities.

People detained in Romania will be brought before the Appeal court in Bucharest, which must decide on their arrest, a spokesperson for the Romanian police said.

- SAPA