Spanish Authorities Rescue Over 1,000 Victims from Human Trafficking and Exploitation Rings

More than half of the people freed, a total of 565, were victims of labor exploitation, and the remaining 491, including two minors, were sexually exploited, according to the latest data on human trafficking and exploitation in Spain, provided by the Center for Intelligence against Terrorism and Organized Crime (CITCO) under the Ministry of the Interior.

These figures are the result of the 226 operations carried out by the National Police and the Civil Guard in 2021 and led to the dismantling of 64 criminal organizations and groups and the arrest of 663 people, reports El Confidencial Digital, specifying that the victims are mostly male and of Moroccan, Senegalese and Nicaraguan origin.

Human trafficking "is a serious violation of human rights and one of the most lucrative criminal activities," after drug trafficking, the Ministry of the Interior points out, stressing the urgency of implementing the National Strategic Plan against Human Trafficking and Exploitation 2021-2023.