BRUSSELSFeb 8 – Belgium on Wednesday charged nine people with human trafficking and money laundering for their alleged involvement in a gang suspected of bringing women from China to work as sex workers in Europe.
Some 300 Belgian police officers detained 27 people in raids across the country on Tuesday and seized 1.5 million euro ($1.6 million) worth of banknotes and 4 tons of coins, according to federal prosecutors.
Another person was arrested in Spain and another two in Switzerland after similar raids. Belgian investigators want them extradited.
Belgian prosecutors brought nine of the detainees before a judge on Wednesday to charge them and keep them in pretrial detention. The other 18 were released.
Prosecutors claimed that the number of Chinese sex workers in Belgium has increased in recent years, especially in Brussels. They believe that a criminal organization brought the women to Europe and forced them into prostitution.
The women, who advertise online, are frequently transferred to different parts of Europe and much of their income is taken from them, according to prosecutors.
(1 US dollar = 0.9305 euros)
