International law enforcement action against human trafficking

Publicated on: June 28, 2024

The operation was organised by Europol, Frontex, and Interpol in early June. The week-long raid in Hungary was coordinated by the National Bureau Investigation of the Rapid Response Police (NBI).

More than 40 countries participated in the Global Chain, a joint international action from 3-9 of June 2024. The aim was to prevent, identify, and eradicate trafficking in human beings, including sexual exploitation, forced criminality and force begging.  

NBI investigators, together with Austrian police officers, have been involved in a check of brothels in and around Vienna. In Hungary, several county police headquarters (Bács-Kiskun, Csongrád-Csanád, Heves, Nógrád, Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg, Tolna) successfully conducted arrests in ongoing investigations for human trafficking and forced labour, procuring for income, facilitating prostitution and living on the earnings of prostitution.

During a joint investigation with German colleagues, investigators in Debrecen identified a man from Szolnok and two accomplices who, from the beginning of 2023, were suspected of recruiting a vulnerable Hungarian woman with physical and mental disabilities for prostitution work in Germany. He first pretended to love her and later assaulted her. His accomplices – his mother and a friend – were involved in organising the victim's travel abroad, advertising sexual services, and managing the revenue from their activities.

Investigators caught all three offenders on 4 June in Jász-Nagykun Szolnok county. The two men and the woman were questioned and detained on suspicion of human trafficking and forced labour.

The EMPACT action in our country has delivered the following results:

- nearly 1000 people participated in the operation,

- 4227 persons, 2484 vehicles, 866 locations, and 3715 documents were checked,

- 14 Hungarian nationals were interrogated as suspects for the crimes of human trafficking and forced labour, procuring for income, facilitating prostitution, and living on the earnings of prostitution,

- The police identified 17 victims, 12 of whom (7 minors) were victims of sexual exploitation and 5 (2 minors) were victims of forced labour,

- 3 new cases of suspected human trafficking and forced labour were opened.

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