They recruited young and attractive Asian women by offering them a better future in Spain, but their plans were to sell them for large amounts of money for being virgins and then continue camouflaged as apartments. The Police have arrested 30 people in different provinces, the majority in Madrid and Barcelona, although also in Zaragoza, Toledo and La Rioja, who were part of the Chinese criminal group Tian Xia She. This triad, , is being investigated for trafficking in women for sexual purposes, but also for the sale of drugs such as “the water of God”, used by the Chinese community to disinhibit themselves sexually; extortion of karaoke or nightclub businesses; or for illegal regularization of migrants.
The police operation, made public this Friday and in which the National Police and the Tax Agency participated, has allowed the release of 33 victims, including one minor. Investigators have followed the steps of this criminal organization for more than two years. They began in 2022, after a complaint about the situation of a woman who had arrived in Spain to be a prostitute. The “numerous investigations” have confirmed the presence in the country of this “transnational criminal organization,” the Police detailed in a statement. The network was “particularly violent.” Its members did not hesitate to use firearms and all types of bladed weapons to act against other rival groups, extortion, settling scores or collecting debts.
The group investigated collaborated with members settled in the victims’ countries of origin. There in Spain, Greece and the United States. “The transfer of very young women, including some minors, was confirmed with the intention of being sold to heads of other Asian organizations in Spain due to the fact that they were virgins,” the researchers detail. After a time, they began to be exploited in the brothels managed by this triad.
The victims lived in brothel apartments that the group had in Madrid, Barcelona and Zaragoza, where they were sexually exploited in conditions close to slavery. They had to settle “a debt” with the organization that could start at 10,000 euros, but that frequently grew to 20,000 euros, because they offered to regularize their situation with work contracts and false registrations. Thus, they were forced to have 24-hour availability, could not move from the apartments and were forced to have unprotected sexual relations. In some cases, they were forced to abort, according to investigations.
The group also made money by bringing immigrants irregularly, most of them of Chinese origin, whose final destination was the United States. Their clients arrived in Europe through the Balkan route and were then transferred to Central America, from where they arrived in the United States. They had a laboratory in which they had a team of tools to falsify passports or visas, and a home where they stayed. to their victims, which they called “snake nest.”
Those investigated for drug trafficking have been arrested mainly in Zaragoza. They had minors selling doses of ketamine or a drug known as “God’s water or sacred water,” fashionable in the Asian community, and whose price is around 300 euros, according to investigators.
The branch investigated in Barcelona dealt with security in brothels. Their security teams also included minors, who collaborated in “the expansion of the business” with the extortion of karaoke bars and nightclubs.
In the final operation, investigators searched 14 properties in Madrid (9), Barcelona (4) and Illescas, and another in Croatia. Two firearms, 180,000 euros in cash were seized, as well as machetes, extendable defenses, brass knuckles, a large amount of the drug “agua de Dios” and 10 high-end vehicles, among other elements useful for the investigation. The Ministry of the Interior recorded in 2023, the last year for which statistics are available, .
