Austrian and Colombian law enforcement authorities, supported by Europol, have rescued dozens of Colombian women from violent sexual exploitation in Europe. The raids performed on 5 September 2025 in Medellin, Colombia, saw the arrest of five suspected Colombian human traffickers on international arrest warrants. One Uruguayan man and one Colombian woman were already arrested in August 2025 in Spain, while two Austrian women and a Romanian woman remain detained in Austria. The criminal network headed by an Austrian-Turkish suspect, who at the moment remains at large, exploited its victims by means of coercion, deception, and abusing their vulnerabilities. In many instances, the criminals relied on severe physical violence towards the women, as well as threats against their family members back home.
Over the course of the investigation, dozens of victims that were under control of the network mostly comprised of Colombian nationals were identified. The women were forced into offering sexual services in prostitution rings, with the traffickers advertising and controlling them like merchandise. Each suspect had a distinct role, which ranged from recruiting and luring victims to Austria and other EU Member States, to those transporting, accommodating or offering them for exploitation.
Investigators uncover harrowing individual fates
With investigators uncovering this case, they identified not only suspect after suspect, but also victim after victim. Each with their own backstory, none of them had envisioned the ordeals they faced once arrived in Europe. Generally stemming from an economically dire background, the women soon found themselves trapped in an inescapable stronghold, completely under the traffickers’ control.
The suspects advertised their victims and the services on offer via adult sexual websites. As far as the sexual services to be provided, the women had no choice but to comply, just as they could not refuse a client or a specific request. Negotiations with clients about services and prices were coordinated by call centre agents, while the traffickers made sure the women would comply in person. In order to maximise their influence over the victims, some members of the criminal network were tasked to pose as clients. This allowed them to monitor their victims’ behaviour and to supervise whether the money earned from clients was correctly declared and handed over to their handlers.
Violence and threats against victims and their families
In cases where victims did not comply with the strict rules and expectations set by their traffickers, they were subjected to severe physical violence. These violent attacks were filmed by the criminals, who used the videos to intimidate other victims into compliance. Control over victims was also exercised through acts of violence and threats against their families in Colombia.
In one particular case, this pressure took the most atrocious form of violence, leading to the murder of a former member of the organisation who left the network. This murder took place in Colombia.
Following the money with the help of Europol’s experts
The vast sums of illicit funds generated by this human trafficking network were funnelled through various financial channels. In order to unveil and disrupt these sophisticated money laundering mechanisms, Europol’s experts supported their national colleagues in meticulously analysing and tracing the cash flows in established and parallel banking services.
Europol facilitated the flow of information between Austrian and Colombian investigators, who closed in on the traffickers. It provided analytical support and ultimately supported the operational activities in Colombia. On the action day, Europol coordinated the cross-border cooperation by deploying an expert with a mobile office to Colombia, who cross-checked operational information in real time and supported investigators on site.
The investigation and the action day itself have been supported by the @ON Network funded by the EU Commission, led by the Italian Antimafia Investigation Directorate (DIA), as well as EMPACT, who financially supported the operational meetings and the mutual deployment of Austrian and Colombian investigators.