One of the ten arrested has been charged with human trafficking, Oslo police
said in a press release.
"The police have arrested ten persons and charged them with promoting the
prostitution of others by organizing woman from Bulgaria for prostitution in
Norway. One of the arrested is also charged with human trafficking," the press
release said.
At 8 a.m. Tuesday morning over 60 police officers struck at ten addresses
around Oslo. Seven men and three women are now charged under the Procurement
Act.
The police action "Operation Hooker" was aimed at Bulgarian prostitutes and
their pimps in Oslo. The raids were the result of a long investigation, with
the special STOP (Special force against trafficking in Oslo police district)
group working since February on the case.
Of the seven men arrested two are Norwegians, three are Norwegian citizens of
Turkish origin, one is a Turk and the last a Bulgarian. The three women are all
Bulgarian citizens.
"We believe the three women have had an organizational role in having the
Bulgarian women sent here," said STOP-leader Øyvind Nordgaren.
The arrested men are alleged to have had a variety of roles in the operation,
some are charged with helping bring women into the country, others own
apartments where sexual services were sold, others are to have procured
clients.
Police say that about 160 Bulgarian prostitutes have come to the country over
the past year.
Today's police action was part of an effort to secure evidence in the case, and
was carried out on the basis of a decision from Oslo Municipal Court.
