Of the Croatian defendants, four were charged with international prostitution, four for drug trafficking, and the two officers were charged with abuse of power. Spanish authorities arrested some of the defendants in December while Croatian police made arrests earlier this week.
The Croatian portion of the organized crime group was based in Medjimurje county, northern Croatia. Other members of the group came from Serbia and Bulgaria. The traffickers lured women to Spain with promises of legitimate jobs in Spanish coastal resort towns, and then forced them to work as prostitutes in Lloret de Mar, in the northeast of Spain. The victims are from Croatia, Serbia, Moldova, Ukraine, and Bulgaria.
Croatian authorities began an investigation into the group in July. After sharing their findings with the Spanish police, the authorities of the two countries in November mounted a joint anti-trafficking operation, dubbed “Catalonia.”
The group was uncovered during a Spanish investigation into property crimes. Police discovered trafficked women from South Eastern Europe, including Croatian citizens. In addition, the police discovered 500 grams of cocaine that the suspects investigated in the operation Catalonia were planning to smuggle from Barcelona to Medjimurje.
The arrested individuals do not appear to be connected to the members of the Serbian “Zemun” organized crime group, who were arrested in Spain in February.
