Israeli Police Bust Trafficking Ring That Lured Women With Fake Job Offers
Israeli police bust a sex trafficking ring that lured vulnerable women with fake job offers before forcing them into prostitution, arresting seven suspects including two ringleaders.
The Central Unit of Israel's Coastal District Police has dismantled a sex trafficking network that recruited women through social media and forced them into prostitution, authorities announced.
The unit conducted a covert investigation over recent months into suspected offenses including human trafficking, rape, aggravated solicitation, and extortion.
According to the suspicion, the network's operators targeted young women of various ages, deliberately preying on those with disabilities or in states of psychological or financial distress. The suspects lured victims with false promises of office work, provided them with housing and wages, and then advertised them on social media platforms before threatening them into providing sexual services at apartments the suspects had rented for that purpose.
Officers raided the suspects' homes yesterday and arrested seven people, including two central suspects, a man and a woman. Searches of the properties turned up tens of thousands of shekels and dollars in cash, suspected to be proceeds from the illegal operation.