Spanish police have smashed a prostitution ring that was offering “high-class sex” services, including the virginity of a 16-year-old girl, which was put up for sale on one of the group’s websites for €5,000.
The raid took place in the city of Marbella in southern Spain’s Andalusia region, police said in a statement.
The ring “offered high-class sex” on different websites, police said, adding that among the offerings was the “virginity of a minor, aged 16, for a price of €5,000.”
The investigation was launched following “collaboration with an anonymous citizen.” Seven people have been arrested and will be charged for crimes connected with “prostitution, sexual exploitation and corruption of minors,” according to the statement.
According to the police informant, the advertised young woman said she was 18 years old, but appeared much younger.
Another anonymous citizen later reported that the girl was actually 16.
The teenager, whose name wasn’t revealed to the public, was freed during the police operation.
Police also seized digital information essential to the investigation that could help identify those who ran the websites in Marbella and the neighboring town of Estepona, 25 kilometers away.
“After analyzing the documentation, the investigators found there was a perfectly organized criminal network behind the ads dedicated to the sexual exploitation of women, which made enormous profits from this activity,” the statement added.
The operation was conducted as part of the Plan of the National Police against Trafficking of Human Beings for Sexual Exploitation, which was launched in 2013.
Spain has no special laws banning prostitution, but brothels and pimping are illegal.
