Spanish National Police have dismantled a criminal organization accused of trafficking and sexually exploiting Venezuelan women in Madrid, Tenerife and other parts of Spain, arresting 17 people and identifying 14 confirmed victims, authorities said. Investigators said the suspects allegedly posed as members of the Venezuelan criminal group Tren de Aragua to intimidate victims and prevent them from leaving the network.
According to police, the network recruited economically vulnerable women in Venezuela with false promises and arranged their travel to Spain under the guise of tourism. Once in the country, the women were allegedly told they owed debts ranging from €7,000 to €9,000 for transportation and other expenses and were forced into prostitution to repay them.
Investigators said the victims were housed in so-called "brothel apartments" in Madrid, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and other provinces, and were regularly moved between properties in Madrid, Asturias, Toledo, Guadalajara and Tenerife. Police said the transfers were intended to maintain control over the women and maximize profits, as Spain's El Mundo reports.
Authorities said the women were subjected to strict surveillance and control. Investigators allege the organization managed the victims' bank accounts, controlled advertisements posted on escort websites, set prices for services and collected earnings.
According to police, the women were required to be available to clients around the clock and were not permitted to refuse customers or specific sexual acts.
The organization also allegedly imposed arbitrary fines and abusive loans that generated new debts, making it more difficult for victims to leave. Police said members of the network confiscated personal documents and threatened both the women and their relatives.
The investigation began in August 2025 after witnesses alerted authorities to possible sexual exploitation of Venezuelan women in Tenerife. Police said they later uncovered a criminal structure consisting of at least 11 core members, supported by collaborators who provided apartments used for exploitation.
The operation resulted in 17 arrests — 12 in Madrid, four in Santa Cruz de Tenerife and one in Toledo. Three of the main suspects were ordered held in pretrial detention. Police also identified 12 additional potential victims and froze 14 financial assets allegedly used to channel proceeds from the operation.
The case comes weeks after Spanish authorities announced the arrest of six suspected members of a Tren de Aragua-linked robbery network operating in Madrid. The gang, which originated in a Venezuelan prison and has expanded across Latin America, was designated a foreign terrorist organization by the United States earlier this year.
Last week President Donald Trump announced that U.S. forces had killed the group's alleged leader, Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, known as "Niño Guerrero," during an operation conducted in coordination with Venezuelan authorities.
