At the end of September 2022, investigators apprehended a total of four perpetrators in two separate cases, with arrest warrants out for two more suspects.
Germany remains a major destination for sexual exploitation. A Hungarian criminal organization has been recruiting vulnerable Hungarian women for prostitution in Berlin since 2017. They transported the victims by airplane and minibus, and then made them work in specific streets “under their control”. If they failed to earn the expected €150 to €300 a day, they were simply not allowed off the streets, forcing them to continue working. Victims were subjected to constant psychological terror and sometimes physical abuse. In addition, one of the victims who was locked in a room for repeated defiance, tried to escape by jumping out of the window, suffering injuries so severe that she was hospitalized for nine months.
In cooperation with German authorities, the THB Unit of the Rapid Response Police National Bureau of Investigation has identified a total of 25 victims. This was followed by an action day supported by Europol in Budapest and Berlin, where members of the OCG were simultaneously targeted. The perpetrator caught in Hungary has already been arrested by a court order, while those who were in Germany have been placed in extradition custody. The fourth member of the gang is currently at an unknown location, so domestic and European arrest warrants are issued for him.
In April 2022, we published a news article about a criminal organization in Bács-Kiskun County, which was profiting from the exploitation of young Hungarian girls in various cities in Eastern Germany. At that time, three criminals were caught by the police, and the fourth member – who provided the apartment for the prostitution activity and managed the online advertisements – was arrested at the end of September in front of his flat in the town of Kecskemét. One accomplice is still wanted by the police and has a domestic warrant out for his arrest.
For the capture videos and photos of the operations please go the press releases of the National Police Headquarters and Europol:
https://www.police.hu/hu/hirek-es-informaciok/legfrissebb-hireink/bunugyek/lover-boy-racs-mogott