Romanian Police Break Up Human Trafficking Ring

Romanian authorities have dismantled a human trafficking ring that transported women to Germany and sold them to Turkish citizens.

Romanian authorities have dismantled a human trafficking ring that transported women to Germany and sold them to Turkish citizens for about 5,000 euros ($6,700) each, border police said on Wednesday.

Romania, which joined the European Union this year, is one of 11 countries the United Nations lists as the top sources of human trafficking.

Police said the six-person gang recruited women in bars in villages in west Romania by promising them well-paid jobs abroad. They took them out of the country legally and sold them to Turks in the German towns of Stuttgart and Ludwigsburg.

The ring laundered money in Romanian banks and real estate.

Romania has won praise from Brussels for boosting border controls, combating graft and improving police cooperation. But some observers say trafficking may increase as smugglers take advantage of EU entry and easier access to western Europe.