From Latin America to Europe - The dangerous schemes of human traffickers | DW Documentary

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Spanish police – conducting a raid on human traffickers who lure women to Europe and then force them into prostitution.
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Germany is often the destination, because of the profits that they can make there.
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They call Germany the 'brothel of Europe'. It's where the highest prices are charged.
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Since the COVID pandemic, prostitution in Europe has increasingly shifted to private apartments
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and hotel rooms. Because these spaces are difficult to monitor, they are favored by traffickers.
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A lot of clients are violent, and we have an extremely high rate of assaults on prostitutes, including murder.
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And that's just the tip of the iceberg. This documentary accompanies the German police and other
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authorities in their attempts to free women from human traffickers. A growing number of victims come from Latin America.
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Sebastian Eichler is a senior officer with the police's organized crime division in the western German city of Mainz.
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As head of the human trafficking unit, he’s well aware of these developments.
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The task for me and my colleagues primarily involves finding potential victims of human trafficking here in Mainz – and then taking action,
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and providing police support. Eichler tracks legal and illegal prostitution in the city.
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Joined by two female officers, he's about to inspect a number of local brothels – and will be on the lookout for women
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from Central and South America, in particular. We're permitted to show him on camera – but his colleagues wish
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to remain anonymous. We're off to a red light district.
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Prostitution is not illegal in Germany. Brothels must have authorization, and sex workers need to be officially registered.
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The police and authorities have the right to carry out inspections at any time, without advance notice.
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But what exactly are they looking for? We're looking for women who are willing and able to speak openly –
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to say they're being forced to do this and need help from the police. Their search of this industrial block comes up empty.
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It's a difficult job – and requires a lot of sensitivity.
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We need to have that awareness. Because we need people who can provide us with information. Say, there might be a woman who was brought there by someone.
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And she has the proper documentation. But she’s being forced to work there, and made to hand over her earnings.
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When we explain that we're there to help, sometimes a woman will say: yes, I know someone who that happened to.
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The officers are inspecting a legal brothel. Many of the women here are from Latin America.
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The manager herself is originally from Colombia. We're from the Criminal Investigation Department in Mainz –
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the Mainz Police Department – and we're here to check on the women, to make sure they're OK. That's the most important thing.
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So if you notice any of them being forced to do something against their will, please give me a call. Great.
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You can contact me confidentially. And we can talk, if there's anything on your mind, okay? - OK... - How do the girls get here, to you?
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I've been doing this job for 35 years and this… is the best.
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The female officers split up, in order to talk to the sex workers privately – without the manager present.
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If you work, the money, is it your money? Yes my money, yes.
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You can decide what you want. You can say no, if you want? Ah yes, yes.
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Ok, you can decide, what you want and what you make? - Yes! - It's your decision?
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…You can say no? Oh yes, …no! The women tell the officers they are here voluntarily,
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and that they get to keep their earnings. They say they can turn down clients. There are four women from Colombia here today –
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all using Spanish passports. Three rooms are for clients. A fourth room is their bedroom.
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And what do their services cost? One hour: 150.
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For me 90 and for the house 60.
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On the surface, everything seems to be in order here. The women have documentation proving that they're allowed to engage
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in prostitution in Germany. But are they genuinely here of their own volition? Or have they been coerced?
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We're not here long enough to judge whether a woman is actually OK. They're pretty good at acting – which is part of their job –
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and sure, they do that. It's really difficult to see what’s really going on. But it's always worth a try, and we've had cases where women said
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they wished we'd been there. Just recently we met a woman during an inspection who was about my age.
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She told us she was pregnant but was still working there. And that really got to me.
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We offered to help her. You get a feeling of utter despair when you start to realize what
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these women are going through. Sometimes they break down and start crying. And then you've at least reached that point where you can offer
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help and maybe be a lifeline for this woman. Which is our objective, actually.
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Back at police headquarters, it's time for the follow up paperwork: writing reports, entering data and forwarding the personal details
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of the women to colleagues in Spain, to check. But inspecting legal brothels is only one part of the officers' job.
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The illegal prostitution premises that we're always trying to track down are hotel rooms and apartments that are used as short term rentals
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by what are possibly criminal gangs. The women are assigned to these locations for
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a certain time and have to prostitute themselves day and night – in many cases for over 20 hours at a time.
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Those criminal networks have also caught the attention of sociologist Manuela Schon, who works with the Wiesbaden city
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council on women's welfare. To improve support services, she performs systematic analyses
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of the prostitution market. This involves combing through internet advertisements.
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I used to believe the newspapers – that Wiesbaden was too well to do to have any prostitution.
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And then I realized that it even exists in my own neighborhood! Germany's liberal legislation reduces the risk for human traffickers.
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Brothels and sex workers must be registered. But failure to register is only classified as a minor offense.
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And if women are found working in private apartments, they are the ones who have to pay the fines – as stipulated by law.
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The areas shaded in red are where prostitution premises can be legally registered.
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We also mapped all properties offering sexual services.
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And as you can see: there are a lot of such places all across the city – especially in the center of town.
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An area where prostitution is not permitted. About 70% of sex work takes place in unregistered premises,
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and organized networks ensure that there is sufficient supply available.
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It's not feasible that a woman from Latin America – say Colombia – would find these addresses on her own, especially
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when she doesn't speak the language. The sociologist also finds evidence on online forums referring
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to intermediaries behind the scenes. "You can feel a bit sorry for the girl."
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It looks like she's the one replying to a WhatsApp inquiry.
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I also asked about things like a 69, kissing and finishing on her face.
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And the answer was always: everything included, no extra charges.
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So I was really looking forward to the appointment, and then the disappointment. No kissing, no 69.
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Then she said there was an agency involved – which is incredibly dishonest. We work hard for our money, it's not fair to take advantage.
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I really struggle to understand how someone clearly notices that there are handlers involved making
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false promises – but his only response is to feel duped
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instead of calling the police or considering that this might be human trafficking or pimping.
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I find the client's attitude stunning.
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To track down the addresses and the women in question, she responds to ads and posts on Whatsapp.
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She and her colleagues then offer help in the relevant language. And that has increasingly meant using a Spanish translator.
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This ad is from a woman from Peru. You already wrote to her?
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“Hi there sweetie. I'm Valentina and have only just moved to Wiesbaden. My rates start at 100 euros for 30 minutes – 150 for an hour.”
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It's probably not her using the phone... Perfect spelling... That's our experience – that they don't speak a word of German.
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Once a third party uses the phone, they can see how many clients the woman had, without being physically present.
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And they can check how much money she must've earned.
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The team's objective is to present trafficked women with options.
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First, they must gain their confidence – which is why they bring along little presents.
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They help to break the ice. They have the city logo on them, to show that we are really official
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They include a name and a phone number the women can contact to ask for help – or if they need someone to talk to.
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They'll be taking three bags with them today – for three appointments with women from Latin America,
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in holiday apartments and hotels in the historic city center.
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These women are often extremely afraid when we visit them. You can see the panic in their eyes.
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The large fines that can be levied for illegal prostitution and danger of deportation count among the women’s fears.
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But the welfare team is not there for that. Our approach is to care for these women as if they were
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our best friends. We help them to get a new start and realize their dreams.
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We're on our way to an apartment where there's always a rapid turnover of women, mostly from Latin America.
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One of them is from Peru. We want to see whether she'll open the door to us.
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This is as far our film team can go. We'll see Manuela Schon again after the visit.
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Only a small number of women caught in these networks manage to escape. They're placed in victim protection programs, or live
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in safe houses provided by support organizations. But there's a constant fear of being discovered.
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Criminal gangs may threaten the women's families back home. One survivor agrees to talk on the condition that her identity
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and location are kept secret. Both the woman and the support worker wish to remain anonymous.
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They meet in a garden, somewhere in Germany. The two women speak in Spanish as the victim tells her story:
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A friend offered me a job with a modeling agency in Europe. I had to submit an application, along with photos, as well as proof
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of my vaccinations, including COVID. It all seemed to be above board.
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They booked a flight and a hotel for me. When I got there, they demanded my passport and said I now owed
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them five and a half thousand euros, which I had to work off.
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They took me to a building and gave me a box of condoms. The building was full of cameras.
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I was sexually exploited for months – 24/7, without a break.
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They reminded me of this big debt and said I couldn't hide because they had people all over Europe – plus they knew where my family lived.
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Sorry… I need to take a short break.
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In Madrid, Carmen Gonzalez is the head of a special unit of Spain's Policía Nacional, or national police.
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Her team is tasked with combating the criminal gangs who enslave these women.
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The number of victims doubled between 2020 and 2024,
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and the increase is particularly high among women from countries like Colombia and Venezuela.
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But the number of victims from Latin America in general is growing every year.
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Police raids on apartments across the country have already freed many women from the clutches
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of the human traffickers.
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Officers often find similar scenes: traumatized women, drugs, and suspiciously
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large amounts of cash.
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Yes, it was my colleague here who discovered the money! The suspects had hidden it in the top of a cupboard – inside socks,
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in a hidden compartment. The entire team is always present on raids like these.
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When they storm an apartment, what thoughts run through the officer’s head?
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We carry out operations like this once a month.
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We're used to it. There's a rush of adrenalin when we go in, but we try to stay calm.
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This is the aftermath of one such raid, in February. The women found here were treated like slaves.
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They all slept in the living room, and had to make themselves available to clients in other rooms day and night.
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We want them to feel safe and for them to trust us, so that they'll tell us about their situation.
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What we ultimately want is to free them from that state – of being enslaved.
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Her boss calls, to talk about a new case. It's come in via a helpline for victims of human trafficking –
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set up by the national police force and available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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A team of police officers is on hand to handle calls – and take down any details provided.
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The latest call was made from Colombia – by a man who says his cousin was forced into prostitution in Paris.
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Carmen Gonzalez and her colleagues have the man's phone number – and they now call him back.
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You say there's a hotel. OK. Do you know which room? No? Do you have a name?
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I’ll spell it: E Z… Do we need a photo of her?
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Yes. Can you send a photo to my boss if you have one? Do you know which city she's being offered in?
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She's in Paris. In Paris?
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The trafficker himself appears to be in Colombia. From there, he directs clients for the woman to a hotel in Paris.
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The suspect is in Colombia and posts the ads with photos of the girls.
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The search results currently show 47 Colombian women working in Paris.
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And we need a photo to identify which one she is. We have to make sure that she's OK.
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So our priority right now is to locate the woman and check that she's not in danger.
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While they do not yet have a photo of the woman, they do now have a name.
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They're headed for border control – the operations center for the national police. They know the woman traveled recently from Colombia to Spain.
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She was probably taken from there to France by car. How are South American women like her lured to Europe?
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The ongoing economic crises in these countries leave a lot of people in extreme poverty – and with no chance of getting a job.
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So for many, going to Spain seems to be the only way out. The women believe they'll be able to work as carers,
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cleaners or waitresses. But once they get to Spain, they're told they have
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to work as prostitutes – and are forced to comply.
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Here at border control, the officers can access all the cameras installed along the country's borders.
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They can immediately see who is currently entering Spain, at which border crossing.
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Maybe this camera is a bit better? Do we know if they're driving?
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It's possible, but we don't have a car registration number yet.
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All they know so far is that the woman from Colombia was taken into France from Spain –
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but not when, or in which car. They leave the woman's name and other details and ask
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for them to be forwarded to all border personnel. Back at her office, Carmen Gonzalez is on the phone to Sebastian Eichler –
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from the human trafficking unit of the Mainz police force. Buenas dias, Carmen. Thank you for your time, I really appreciate
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it. As I texted you yesterday, we had some brothel checks a couple of weeks ago and we encountered four Colombian women
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with Spanish passports. Could you check all the IDs when I give it to you? Maybe the passport numbers, the document numbers?
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- Ok. - I was wondering, if is it easy to get a Spanish passport as a Colombian woman?
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- Yes, it is easier. Bear in mind, they belong to Ibero American countries, so they just need
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to be in Spain legally for two years. And then they can get a Spanish passport.
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So you can check the person in your system with the number of the document and you can find, if she has a residence
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in Madrid or Spain as well. OK, we are going to check it. No problem. Also we are going to check if it is a genuine passport or a falsified passport.
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Being in direct contact with investigators is vital. So I was really glad that we were able to talk and exchange numbers –
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to help advance the cooperation. Of course, everything goes through official channels.
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We'll exchange information via legal assistance requests if need be. Direct contact can help to speed things up –
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and it works really smoothly, now.
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But police work alone is not enough, when it comes to tackling human trafficking and forced prostitution.
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In June 2025 the United Nations' Office on Drugs and Crime hosted
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the first ever global forum for human trafficking survivors. Over 30 victims came to Vienna to tell their stories.
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They talked about how their individual vulnerabilities were exploited by criminals. And about systemic causes of exploitation, like poverty,
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displacement and gender inequality. The event enabled survivors to share
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their strength, and to support and empower others.
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Betty Pedraza Lozano lives in the Colombian city of Medellin.
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She has over 30 years' experience working with victims of human trafficking and forced prostitution.
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We deal with victims who have been identified. But how many are there who have not been identified – who are still
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out there somewhere, waiting for us to find them and help them?
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Sadly, trafficking is soaring and becoming more widespread.
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There are many sides to human trafficking: from forced labor and sexual exploitation
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to organ trafficking. 200,000 cases were reported worldwide between 2020 and 2023 –
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but the actual number of cases is far higher. The UN estimates that several million victims fall prey to human trafficking every year.
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And, according to UN data, over 70% of perpetrators come from organized crime.
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The victims only know the name of the first link – the person who recruited them.
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And law enforcement is weak, meaning that very few networks are exposed.
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And when they are, it's only the Colombians on the ground who they catch – not the larger networks involved.
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Just that first contact. A problem that is also familiar to police in Germany.
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Except that in Germany, if they catch anyone, it’s the final link in the chain… the individual who arranges
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clients for the women. Small fry – but here, too, the police are determined
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to dismantle the structures behind the system. Sadly we're still working relatively in the dark.
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It's going to take some time, but my assumption is that the money all flows together somewhere. With that kind of money at stake, you always have
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big players pulling the strings.
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Sebastian Eichler is on his way to Germany’s federal criminal investigation agency.
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The Wiesbaden office coordinates the work of local and regional police authorities, and also liaises with foreign law enforcement bodies.
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He's here to meet Nicole Baumann, from the agency's human trafficking unit.
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They’ll discuss the current investigation. We now have to place this in a European context and look
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at what findings they might already have in Spain, Belgium or the Netherlands.
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And after pooling our information we'll look at how we can help you best. I'm confident that we'll get a good outcome.
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I'm sure the money all comes together somewhere… A hundred percent! And if we can figure that out at some point, it'd be good
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for exposing the networks. We also need to look at which other cases in Germany follow
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a similar modus operandi – and we’ll incorporate you there, too.
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I'm sure our colleagues in Spain have valuable information that would really help us to make progress, with Spain being a known point
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of entry for Latin America. Securing convictions requires testimony from the affected women.
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Many of them are scared of the police – and say they're engaging in prostitution voluntarily.
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It's a protective mechanism that the women sometimes have drummed into them by the gangs.
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They have to rehearse what to say – saying first that they're doing it voluntarily.
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Then it's up to the police, perhaps with the help of counselors, to dig deeper and respond to the women
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and gain their trust because you want to see the criminals identified
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and convicted. In Wiesbaden, we meet up again with Manuela Schon and her team –
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now with one gift bag fewer, after visiting the woman from Peru. Were they successful?
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Right when we arrived we saw a neighbor going into the building – which was convenient for us! And then we had this uneasy feeling again, because a little girl with
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a school backpack passed by us – and you think: this is happening in the same building where she's growing up.
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We found the right door – and initially she didn't want to open up. I held up the bag in front of the peephole and said we were
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from the city and that we just wanted to talk to her briefly. And: any indications that she was there against her will?
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Our impression was that she had a client and therefore couldn't speak for long
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She basically stood at the door wearing a towel! But she didn't seem to be under duress?
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Well, you can't tell just from looking, because they're used to putting on a façade.
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They have to pretend. If clients see someone who’s in a total state of fear,
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they wouldn’t go into the apartment. The woman left the apartment later that same day and disappeared –
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probably to another city. Next on the team's list– the address
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of a transperson from Brazil who they've arranged to meet.
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There's nobody home. But the neighbors are evidently aware that the holiday apartment
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is being used by prostitutes, who seem to work in rotation. Out of concern for their own safety, the neighbors only agree to talk
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to us anonymously. There are a lot of men, coming in and out at pretty short intervals.
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It gets really loud, and every time I enter the building there's be a new man at the door.
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All I can tell is that they have a really… demanding day.
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And that's after being trafficked across Europe, thousands of miles from home.
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The survivor we meet at a secret location describes the harrowing, brutal conditions women like her face.
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I was sexually exploited for months. I had no control over my own body.
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There were cameras everywhere and I had no chance of escaping. They threatened to beat me, and said they would kill me.
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She was only able to escape that horrific ordeal thanks to an undercover police operation in Germany.
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I assumed he was a client. But then he said he was a police officer and showed me his ID –
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and I broke down and cried and asked him to help me.
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She's now in a survivors’ support program. Her cooperation with the authorities means
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she can stay in Germany for now – but she hopes to eventually be granted a permanent residence permit.
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In Mainz, posing as a client is a tactic also used by police investigator Sebastian Eichler and his colleagues to track
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down victims of forced prostitution. I've found two ads in Mainz, and I'm going to reply to one of them now.
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'Languages: English and Spanish.' Suggests Latin America.
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Today, only one colleague accompanies him. A Whatsapp message directs them to Bad Kreuznach,
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a half hour's drive away. They already have the address – but won't be given the name on the door until right before the appointment.
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There's a pedestrian zone ahead. So… I'll turn around. The sat nav will redirect me…
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They continue on foot – and only now does Sebastian Eichler get the name he'll have to ring at the building's entrance.
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Another indication that the apartment is an illegal brothel.
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Eichler enters the building first, followed by his colleague.
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Again, we wait outside.
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In the Bavarian city of Ingolstadt, this man makes his living from prostitution – legal prostitution, he says.
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He uses the pseudonym Werner Frankfurt. The brothel operator, Hells Angels member
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and influencer shows off his luxurious lifestyle online – while also promoting his business model.
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Most of his followers are men. They love the videos. And I'm very open about it.
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I did do 7 years.
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7 years in prison. He’s well versed with the workings of the criminal scene, but is reluctant to talk about what he calls ‘the distant past.’
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He's now been granted a license for this new brothel. You can't keep saying someone is criminal, 10 or 20 years later.
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There are so many stipulations. A comprehensive police background check, and they also check
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with the regional major crimes division. So you really do have to be clean to get a license as a brothel operator.
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He insists he's merely a landlord, charging the women 150 euros a night to rent a room.
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And he says, only legally registered sex workers are allowed. He must have their documentation on hand at all times: work permit,
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passport details and registration as a prostitute. Next week we have one, two, three, four… no: five arrivals?
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Condoms are mandatory, all rooms are fitted with an emergency button, and he must pay tax on his income.
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Meeting these and other conditions means he loses business to illegal competition from hotels and apartments.
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Sure, I lose money. Plenty of brothels have shut down. I know long time owners who quit and didn't even survive COVID.
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And when we did reopen, it wasn't a walk in the park either.
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A lot of the business has shifted to apartments and all the hotels. The women got used to that, and then just didn't come back.
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Business for him appears to be doing well. The women here say they're working voluntarily,
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and get to keep their earnings. Meanwhile, the topic of legal prostitution is also controversial.
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Among its critics is sociologist Manuela Schon. She works closely with gynecologist Liane Bissinger, who accompanies
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her when visiting sex workers in brothels and apartments. You made it!
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It’s hot here! The two women want to see Germany criminalize
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the purchase of sexual services – as is the case in Sweden. There, clients face serious penalties but sex workers are not prosecuted.
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This evening they're visiting a women’s organization to give a talk on the subject. Liane Bissinger has spent decades supporting sex workers
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in Hamburg's ‘Reeperbahn’ red light district. As a doctor, she cannot understand how prostitution can be treated
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as a normal occupation. I'm going to briefly show you what penetration by clients
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five times a day – oral, vaginal and anal– does to the body.
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If this were a regular profession, there would be occupational health standards in place.
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Looking at the number of penetrations, the degree of force used, over what period of time by how many individuals,
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and how many involving the genital or anal area or the mouth–
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what would be the acceptable limit? It's so absurd.
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It always impacts on the bodies and souls of these women,
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yet it’s barely discussed. They see the purchase of sex as a form of violence,
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and buyers as perpetrators – which is why they're calling for a ban on brothels and for fines and jail time
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for people purchasing sex. Sweden and France have already introduced what is known as the Nordic Model.
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Whether or not Germany could follow suit is the subject of intense debate. The country’s conservative parties are pushing for criminalization.
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The Wiesbaden authorities have also taken a stand. October 5th is the International Day of No Prostitution.
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And for the very first time, the city of Wiesbaden's women's welfare office will be taking part.
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That's just nonsense. It's just not possible to ban prostitution.
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Let's say they passed a law tomorrow demanding that all brothels close down.
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You reckon that Maria will start working in a supermarket, Jessica will become a cleaner and Resi will get a job
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at a fruit and veg store? You think that's going to happen?
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Attitudes like this are part of the problem, say gynecologist Liane Bissinger and Manuela Schon.
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They argue that banning the purchase of sexual services would very much be a solution.
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When you take a closer look at those countries where the ban is in place, you see it making progress
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in the areas that matter to us: curbing human trafficking
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and, above all, curbing the phenomenon of men
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being entitled to buy women. Findings that give them hope.
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In Bad Kreuznach we meet back up with the police officers from Mainz after their undercover operation.
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In the apartment we encountered two women and one young man. We let him go after checking his details, and talked to the women.
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We asked why they were doing this, and when we offered to help them they declined. It turned out that one of them is actually
37:07
a customs officer in Romania. But the death of her husband left her with massive debts –
37:13
which she has to work off. Debt, poverty, hardship – the reasons are all too familiar.
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The officers told the women to stop engaging in illegal sex work but refrained from filing charges
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against them. You always take stock of the day's events.
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We weren't able to help anyone today – but was that really because nobody needed any help?
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Then there's the frequent problem of the women's families being threatened back home. The women are wary of making a statement,
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because their families could suffer the consequences. So of course a lot of them are reluctant to talk.
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And what can we, as German police, offer in return?
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It's a problem also experienced by Carmen Gonzalez and her team. On the one hand there is good news: the woman featured in prostitution
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ads in Paris managed to escape, and is in hiding somewhere in France. But she doesn't want to cooperate with the police –
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in France or in Spain.
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France has also criminalized the purchase of sexual services, with buyers facing the prospect of fines or even jail time.
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But business continues behind closed doors in hotels and apartments – in many cases quite openly.
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Prostitution is prohibited in France – but there are still loads of ads online.
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It's easy to find websites with listings from women offering sexual services.
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And you above all see women from Latin America. The most common countries of origin are Colombia,
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Venezuela and Paraguay. The business model used by human traffickers works –
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regardless of whether or not the country in question has banned the purchase of sexual services.
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Carmen Gonzalez and her colleague Nerea Nieto still need to run a check on the Colombian women's passport details, from Sebastian Eichler’s
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earlier visit to the brothel in Bad Kreuznach. Their papers seem to be in order, and not forged.
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It's a difficult job and a complex one – because we ultimately know that we can't be everywhere.
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We'd like to take down every single criminal organization out there and save every victim of human trafficking.
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Criminal organizations never rest, so we have to keep working 24/7, too.
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Gonzalez says that cooperating with other countries' police forces helps. But they are all up against a daunting foe.
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In Germany, Manuela Schon and Nadia Tosa have one last visit to make today.
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This time, in a hotel in the center of Wiesbaden.
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She was from Brazil. Looked desperately young. And extremely thin.
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We immediately told her why we were there and that this was not legal in a hotel.
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Typically, she denied everything. When we showed her the ad, she did then admit it.
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This woman left, afterwards – without asking for help. Which we hadn't been expecting.
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No, that doesn't happen. We have seen it in cases where the women have been here
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longer– and eventually call us, very upset, and ask us to come by because they can't take it anymore.
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So we know a lot of it is a front they put up, and that it takes trust and building up a relationship for them to even call back for help.
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An ongoing challenge that requires plenty of patience. Setbacks are frequent.
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Sebastian Eichler often wonders what would truly help victims of human trafficking.
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Personally, I say clients should also be held accountable. But there, too, we need the kind of legal framework that enables
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us to clearly prove offenses. And we currently don't have that.
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But how quickly might those changes be forthcoming? The German government has tasked an expert panel with reviewing
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the country’s current legislation. Meanwhile, Sebastian Eichler and his colleagues remain on the case, in the fight against exploitation.