Man arrested trying to bring two teenage refugees from Ukraine for prostitution

Every day buses are leaving Poland heading for different countries in Europe, carrying Ukrainian refugees who have fled their country because of the Russian invasion. Many of these passengers are families, but police in Spain have just arrested one Ukrainian man who took advantage of the situation to bring two underage girls to Malaga, where he intended to use them for prostitution.

The police began to investigate because the head of one of the NGOs (charities) working to help Ukrainian refugees were travelling on the same bus and became suspicious of the man’s behaviour. He was with two girls aged 15 and 16, telling people they were sisters and he was their uncle, taking them to safety.

The NGO believed his behaviour towards them was not that of a man with two family members in his care, and decided to contact the police. They boarded the bus when it arrived in Madrid, and the suspect, the girls and several witnesses were then questioned by officers who specialise in investigating people trafficking.

The man immediately became very agitated and aggressive, and attempted to punch one of the police officers, which led them to become even more suspicious of him. He insisted that he was the girls’ uncle and they were sisters, although they all had different surnames and he could provide no documents to prove any family relationship with them.

The police then inspected the girls’ suitcase and found it contained skimpy clothing which was not suitable for this time of year, and a great many cosmetic products. The man’s case contained jewellery, 4,300 euros in cash, and hashish.

At first, the girls confirmed what the man had said about being sisters travelling with their uncle, but then there began to be contradictions in their answers to certain questions, such as the colour of their house in Ukraine. Finally, they admitted that they were not related to each other or to the man they were travelling with.

The police discovered that one of the girls was in a relationship with the man and she had convinced the other girl to leave Ukraine with them, against the wishes of their parents who already had their suspicions about him.

It appears that he had intended to bring the girls to Spain and had told them he would rent them an apartment there. The police arrested him on suspicion of people trafficking and child abduction. The girls are now being looked after by organisations that specialise in assisting victims of trafficking.