Czech police arrest 14 key players in Irish prostitution ring

Czech police say a key aspect of the crime group’s operation in Ireland was that all communication took place covertly through closed groups on mobile apps. Stock picture: Alamy

An organised crime group behind a prostitution operation in Ireland has been hit with the arrest of 14 key players in the Czech Republic.

The arrests in recent days come after Czech police focused on the organisation’s activities in the Republic and in Northern Ireland since 2019.

It is understood that the police liaised with An Garda Síochána and the PSNI as part of their probe, which has been codenamed Terzuz.

According to police, a key aspect of the group’s operation in Ireland was that all communication took place covertly through closed groups on mobile apps.

Nicknames were used in the communications in a bid to ensure the group’s operation could go without detection.

Spokesman of the Czech Republic’s national organised crime agency, Jaroslav Ibehej, said some of the arrested women are accused of having established a network of people in 2019, with the purpose of obtaining a profit through organising prostitution north and south of the border.

He said that investigations by the Czech authorities found that the group was involved in the recruitment of sex workers from socially disadvantaged backgrounds, as well as organising the transport and accommodation for them.

Communication with customers was also part of the operation, according to Mr Ibehej, who added that the organisation was also involved in advertising sexual services for the operation.

A number of the accused women are alleged to have organised shifts for the recruited sex workers, as well as being the go-between for clients with the sex workers, he said.

The sex workers then had to give part of their profits to the organisers of the group from each encounter, he said.

He said: “All of the women are charged with the crime of pimping committed for the benefit of an organised criminal group and the crime of participation in an organized criminal group.

“In the event of a final conviction and admission of guilt, the main organisers face prison sentences of up to 12 years, while the other accused women face sentences of up to 10 years.”

The case is being taken by the district state prosecutor’s office in Mělník in the Czech Republic.

In August, the Irish Examiner spoke with a Czech woman who has self-published her own account of working in the Irish sex industry after falling on difficult financial times in her home country.