US embassy cable - 05MADRID3251

UNCLAS MADRID 003251 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT PASS TO EUR/WE, G/TIP FOR JENNIFER DONNELLY, 
CA/FPP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KWMN, PHUM, PGOV, SP 
SUBJECT: SPAINISH AUTHORITIES DISRUPT CHINESE HUMAN 
SMUGGLING RING 
 
 
1. (U) On September 9, the Spanish National Police (SNP) 
arrested 14 Chinese citizens, five of them women, in 
connection with a human smuggling ring whose goal was to 
transfer women from China to South Africa and the Western 
Hemisphere for prostitution.  The smuggling ring transferred 
Chinese women to Spain, utilizing fraudulent passports and 
false Shengen entry stamps.  Once in Spain, they were held in 
small apartments until they were transferred to Mexico, 
Canada and South Africa in groups of four, three times a 
week.  During the course of the arrests, the SNP seized 14 
fake passports (three from Hong Kong, four from Japan, five 
from Singapore, one from Malaysia and one from Great 
Britain), as well as three false entry and exit stamps from 
Schengen border entry posts.  The ring reportedly received 
regular payments via courier, estimated to exceed EUR 150,000 
(195,000 USD) over the past several months, from sources in 
China to cover expenses associated with the transfer of the 
women.  Once transferred, the women were forced to work in 
manual labor or prostitution to repay their debt, estimated 
to be approximately EUR 20,000 (26,000 USD). 
 
2. (SBU) Poloff spoke with Carlos Botran, Chief of the 
Immigration Networks Office at the General Directorate of 
Police, about the smuggling arrests.  Botran stated that the 
GOS had received information about the smuggling ring from 
Interpol Pretoria.  He said that the women were smuggled into 
Spain via Africa, entering Spain at the North African 
enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla.  From Spain, they were going 
to be sent to Mexico for eventual entry into the United 
States.  In regard to the women arrested, Botran said that 
one of the female detainees was a member of the organization, 
while the other four were victims.  According to Botran, the 
four victims were being held in detention as undocumented 
immigrants, but the GOS recognized that they were victims and 
were providing them with social services.  Botran said that 
the GOS was currently negotiating with the Government of 
China to return the women to China within the forty day 
detention limit established by Spanish law.  However, Botran 
said that if the women cooperated with Spanish authorities 
and assisted in the investigation, it was possible that they 
could be granted residency and remain in Spain, if they so 
chose. 
AGUIRRE