Police surveillance has been stepped up in the Netherlands’ red light districts following the arrest of 12 suspected members of a violent gang involved in trafficking women and forcing them into prostitution.

Police in the Netherlands and Germany are continuing their investigation into the gang which is believed to have forced at least 90 women into prostitution.
Safe houses have been set up for the victims and any new women who come forward, the public prosecution department said on Friday. The women caught up with the gang come from Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Ireland.
The NRC reports that the group’s leaders, two brothers aged 36 and 41, are both mentally and physically violent. Eleven of the 12 who were arrested are Turkish. Six were arrested in the Netherlands after raids on homes in Amsterdam, Vinkeveen and Assendelft.
One of the ring leaders, two bodyguards and his Dutch wife were arrested in a Porsche on the way to Düsseldorf airport where they were hoping to fly to Turkey. The other brother, his mother and sister were arrested near Cologne. The German authorities are expected to hand over the six shortly.
Investigators have also gone to Turkey where the gang is suspected of laundering proceeds of their criminal activities.