Spain: 11 arrested in pimping crackdown

Spanish police say they have made 11 arrests as they broke up two gangs that allegedly forced young Romanian women to work as prostitutes and arranged marriages for them to non-EU citizens.

A police statement released today said the two related groups operated in southern and eastern cities including Valencia and had 'ramifications' in Germany and Portugal.

One of the groups specialised in forging documents so as to arrange marriages between Romanian women and usually men from Nigeria so the latter could obtain EU residence permits.

It said the other group recruited women in Romania and took their passports away once they got into Spain and forced them to work as prostitutes until they paid off "debt" accrued by being brought to Spain.