The Civil Guard has arrested a man as allegedly responsible for a network of sexual exploitation of women, who is also charged with the crimes of injuries, threats, coercion and drug trafficking, within the framework of an investigation carried out for months in different towns in the province of Castellón.
The operation, begun in June 2025 after the filing of a complaint, has allowed the dismantling of an organized system of recruitment and control of women in situations of special vulnerability, the security force has reported.
The detainee, who has been brought to justice, offered money to women, many of them in an irregular administrative situation and with serious economic difficulties, so that they could practice prostitution in homes previously equipped for this purpose, mainly in the municipalities of Peñíscola and Benicarló, in the north of the province.
The exploitation was based, according to the procedures carried out, on the recruitment of women in “contexts of extreme precariousness”, many of them with family responsibilities in their countries of origin. After attracting them with financial promises, the detainee allegedly appropriated a good part of their income and kept them in a dynamic of economic and psychological dependence.
According to the investigation, the alleged perpetrator not only obtained a direct economic benefit from the activity, but also exercised tight control over the women through threats, coercion and, in some cases, physical attacks to force them to continue working.
The victims lived in the homes under constant supervision and had to be available to clients at any time.
The investigators have confirmed that the consumption of narcotic substances was facilitated in the properties, both for women and clients, “an extreme that expands the criminal scope of the action,” according to the same sources.
The activity generated a continuous movement of people and had provoked police interventions due to neighborhood complaints related to disturbances and parties held at dawn.
The investigation, developed by the specialized team EMUME (Women-Minor Team) of the Organic Unit of the Judicial Police of the Civil Guard of Castellón, included surveillance, monitoring and other procedures that made it possible to gather solid evidence about the illicit activity.
The detainee was placed at the disposal of the competent Investigative Court of Vinaròs on January 30. The Civil Guard is keeping proceedings open to determine if there are more victims linked to this network. New arrests are not ruled out.
