Male-prostitute trafficking gang arrested in Spain

Spanish police said yesterday they had arrested five suspected members of a gang that imported men from Brazil to offer sexual services and drugs across the country.

Police said a week earlier they had detained 14 pimps in the ring, describing it as the first gay prostitution network ever dismantled in Spain. The latest arrests bring the total to 19.

The gang, mostly Brazilians, is accused of providing the male prostitutes with Viagra, cocaine and other drugs to make them available for sex around-the-clock.

Police detained the five in simultaneous raids on three brothels in Madrid, they said in a statement.

During a search of one of the brothels, police found a 16-year-old Brazilian minor who had been working there for nearly three weeks. Pictures of the boy had been posted on internet adverts for the brothels.

Police said the gang recruited men mainly in northern Brazil to come to Spain. Many were duped into thinking they would work as models or dancers, but others knew they would be prostitutes, they said.

The prostitutes had sex with other men at brothels across Spain and had to give half their earnings to the gang and pay for rent and food, police said. They were threatened with violence or death if they complained.