Under the name “Operation Bogotá”, the authorities have succeeded in tracing an international network which forced women from Colombia into prostitution in Austria. Forty-three victims were freed, while five suspected perpetrators were arrested.
43 women freed
For years now, Austria’s Federal Bureau of Investigation has been working together with the Colombian police and Europol on a shocking case of human trafficking. Recently, 43 victims could be identified and freed – with all the women coming from Colombia. Just how the human trafficking ring was busted has not been made public until now.
Main suspect gone underground
In August, two Austrian women and one Romanian woman were arrested in Austria, Europol reported. In Spain, a man from Uruguay and a woman from Colombia were arrested.
Another raid coordinated by Europol in Colombia on 5 September led to five arrests. The suspected ringleader, however, who has dual Austrian-Turkish citizenship, is currently still at large. The criminal group is presumed to have acted out of Austria. There are also traces of connections to Colombia, Turkey, Romania and Uruguay.
False promises and control
Each suspect had a specific role, from the recruitment and deception in Colombia through to the accommodation and monitoring in Austrian bordellos.
The women, most of whom came from economically deprived circumstances, were recruited using false promises, trafficked and forced into prostitution. Once there, they found themselves in a hopeless situation once again, completely under the control of the human traffickers.
Violent videos as threatening gesture
The suspects advertised their victims and the services offered via online porn sites. The exact nature and prices of these “services” were coordinated by call centre employees, while the women themselves had no freedom of decision-making whatsoever when it came to what happened to them.
In the event that they refused to comply, the human traffickers used severe physical violence on the women. This abuse was filmed, and the videos used to intimidate them. The women were also threatened with the prospect of their relatives living in Colombia being targeted.
The murder of a former member of the human trafficking ring shows that these threats were far from empty words, and needed to be taken seriously. The man in question was murdered in Colombia.
How are the 43 women doing now?
The good news is that the women are now safe. Some of them lived, or live, in secure accommodation at Lefö-IBF, the intervention centre for migrant women in Vienna impacted by human trafficking. Nobody can say how they will do in the long term, however.
Paragraph 57 of the Austrian Asylum Law states that female witnesses to, or victims of, violence have the right to a place to stay with special protection. This right ends after one year, however, when an extension has to be applied for. As long as these procedures are ongoing, the secure status is extended – after this, however, it is uncertain.
International cooperation
This case is an impressive example of just how important international cooperation is in the fight against human trafficking. The investigations took the authorities from Austria to Istanbul, Ankara, Bogotá and Medellín. By working across international borders, investigators were able to uncover the complex cash flows of the network and stay on the trail of the perpetrators. The case is far from over, however – the main suspect is still on the run, and it remains unclear whether there are more victims and perpetrators involved.
Translated by Tim Lywood
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