Four men and three women suspected of involvement in the group have been arrested as the result of an investigation that began in September 2010, when Austrian police learned that sexual services were for sale at a “studio” in Vienna. Austrian authorities brought in the Bulgarian police immediately upon learning that the establishment’s employees were primarily Bulgarian.
Women were lured and deceived by men who pretended to be their partners and asked them to prostitute themselves to make money to start a family, according to the Sofia News Agency. Following their arrival in Austria, they were forced into prostitution. Prosecutors say that among the trafficked women, one girl is under 18 and another is mentally handicapped. Men who had been trafficked told investigators they were made to beg on the streets of Austria’s capital Vienna.
Five men were arrested in Vienna Nov. 14, and another man was arrested the same day in Bulgaria. Viennese authorities raided eight entertainment establishments used as brothels, and questioned nine victims of trafficking. Bulgarian authorities raided another 14 residences and establishments on the same day.
The investigation into the organized group continues with the aid of law enforcement bodies from Greece and Poland.
