article_detail

A major Policía Nacional operation has brought down one of the largest sex trafficking networks on the Costa del Sol, freeing 29 women and arresting 22 people following an investigation that began in August 2025.

 

The operation, known as Operation Gavage, targeted a family clan allegedly running two of the most active brothels on the coast from private luxury villas in Marbella and Benalmádena. The properties were disguised as tourist accommodations, a detail investigators described as significant, and which has prompted a separate inquiry by the Lodging Unit of the Provincial Citizen Security Brigade.

 

At the top of the organisation, according to police, was a 72-year-old woman and several of her children. Six of the 22 people arrested belong to the same family. Beneath them, day-to-day control of the women was handled by figures known as "mamis," though police say these individuals operated under constant supervision from the family leadership at all times.

 

The Policía Nacional described the network as "a perfectly structured criminal organisation with a clearly defined hierarchy and a distribution of roles across different levels of responsibility," whose ultimate goal was "to obtain substantial profits from the sexual exploitation of women, as well as drug trafficking."

 

The conditions imposed on the women were deeply exploitative. Working hours far exceeded any reasonable limit, rest was minimal, and constant availability was demanded. A ticketing system was used to regulate payments for escort services, but crucially, those payments were deliberately withheld, creating a cycle of debt that made it extremely difficult for the women to leave. The properties were also fitted with an extensive video surveillance system covering both the interior and exterior, giving the organisation tight control over everything that took place inside.

 

The financial scale of the operation was considerable. Investigators recovered nearly €300,000 in cash, froze €1.1 million in bank accounts and placed measures on real estate valued at over €6.5 million. High-end vehicles worth €383,000 were also seized, along with jewellery, watches and a range of narcotics including cocaine, tusi, marijuana, hashish and nitrous oxide. Financial transactions linked to Dubai were also identified, pointing to international connections beyond Spain.

 

Behind the headline figures, though, lies the more important story: 29 women subjected to systematic exploitation inside properties dressed up as holiday lets, on one of Europe's most visited stretches of coastline.

 

Images: Policía Nacional