Nineteen women who detectives believe were tricked into working as sex slaves
have been removed from a massage parlour in Birmingham.
The women, aged between 19 and 30, were led from Cuddles on Hagley Road on
Thursday evening by a special task force of about 25 female officers.
Two men and a woman, from the West Midlands, were arrested.
Twelve of the women are expected to be released but seven will be held pending checks on their immigrations status.
The women are said to come from Greece, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Poland and Turkey.
'Locked in'
A shotgun and £7,000 were found at the premises which police say was
being used as a brothel.
A West Midlands Police spokesman said: "The women are believed to be of Eastern European origin and were tricked into the sex industry.
"They had their passports taken. They were locked into the venue during
the evening to work and taken away during the day and locked in a house."
Det Insp Mark Nevitt said they believed the women came from about 10 countries.
"We now need to... speak to them, debrief them and find out exactly how they got into the country and what their role is within this establishment," he said.
'Into the fire'
Amnesty International welcomed the raids but has called on the UK Government
to do more to protect victims of trafficking.
Amnesty spokeswoman Sarah Green said there was no protection in law for victims of trafficking, who are usually classed as illegal immigrants and deported.
She said: "Most are deported without any care or support or assessment of the risks they face if sent back.
"Communities might not want these women back if they know what has happened to them and there is evidence of people being re-trafficked.
"If you deport them very quickly and arbitrarily, you are simply throwing
them back into the fire."
© Gigaware™ Ltd 2005