7 arrested for recruiting Romanian women to be prostitutes in Finland

The Finnish police, in cooperation with the Romanian police, have completed a preliminary investigation of an alleged human trafficking case. 

According to police information, 5 men and 1 woman have been imprisoned in Finland and 1 man has been imprisoned in Romania in connection with the crimes under investigation, which were perpetrated between 2013 and May of this year.

Police suspect that a criminal organization of 6-8 members based in the Romanian city of Craiova brought to Finland "several dozen Romanian women to work as prostitutes."

The women came mainly from Craiova, but also from other parts of Romania. The police have been able to find out that some were brought to Finland deceived with false promises of work, while others knew what they were coming for.

Police operations have been carried out in different Finnish cities such as Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Turku, Tampere, Hämeenlinna, Lohja, Forssa, Kemi, Oulu, Seinäjoki and Hyvinkää.

Cash seized

The members of the group not only recruited the women, they also organized their transfer and the place where they would carry out their activity. According to the police, the suspects decided in all cases who did work and where.

During the searches, the police seized "tens of thousands of euros" in cash. The activities of individuals and companies that knowingly arranged or rented apartments to the organization have also been investigated.

The police released a video where one of the victims can be seen handing money to one of the suspects.