Illegal prostitution ring busted on Rhodes

52-year old Greek bar owner in charge

Police have arrested five people on charges of running an illegal prostitution ring on the island of Rhodes. The alleged ring was busted after a 22-year old Russian woman told police she had been kidnapped and sexually exploited since last month, after first escaping from alleged ring members.

The ring was allegedly run by a 52-year-old local bar-owner, his 42-year-old wife, who was responsible for watching over the trafficked victims, and two female employees at the bar, a 21-year old local woman and a 32-year-old Ukrainian.

The group would lure unsuspecting young foreign girls to Greece via Facebook with the promise of finding them employment. On their arrival the suspects would withhold the victims’ passports, lock them up and force them to have sex with customers.

The Russian woman told police that the bar owner raped her twice a day in the presence of his wife. The suspects were charged with the felonies of setting up a criminal organization, pandering, rape, forgery of documents, false verification and drug possession.