AMSTERDAM - Five men were arrested for human trafficking and people smuggling. The organized group is said to have smuggled at least 13 women from South America into the Netherlands to work as prostitutes. According to the Public Prosecution Service (OM), at least seven women were sexually exploited. Four suspects will have to answer to the court on Friday, July 19, as part of a first pro forma hearing in the extensive case. 

The investigation, which has been going on for a year, has revealed that women from Venezuela and Colombia were brought to the Netherlands to be forced into prostitution. The women were accommodated in vacation homes in several vacation parks in Oost-Brabant and houses in Nijnsel and Boerdonk, among other places. From these locations, they were usually brought to clients as escorts, according to the OM. 

The OM alleges that the men facilitated the prostitution of the women by placing sex ads on the internet, organizing transport as well as maintaining contact with the customers, and arranging payment. The suspects also allegedly organized flight tickets for the South American women and picked them up at the airport. 

After a victim filed a complaint of sexual exploitation in June 2023, an extensive police investigation was launched. A year later, in April 2024, the trail led to the four suspects. The suspects are men aged 34, 32, 26, and 25 from Sint-Oedenrode, Veghel, and Helmond. Two months later, a 32-year-old man from Sint-Michielsgestel was arrested. 

The four suspects will be brought before the court in a pro forma hearing next Friday at 9 am. The man arrested on June 18 was brought before the investigating judge at the end of the week. The court decided that he could await the investigations in freedom.