Three men have been arrested and one is being hunted by police in connection with the forced prostitution of girls as young as 16 in the Amsterdam area, the public prosecution department said on Friday.

The arrests follow an investigation which began in January when police discovered an under-age girl working as an escort.

In total, seven victims were identified, of whom five were under the age of 18. All have Dutch nationality, the public prosecution department said in a statement.

The girls’ services were offered via sex websites in houses in and around Amsterdam but not in the city’s red light district. ‘We are talking about girls aged 16 and 17,’ a public prosecution spokeswoman told news agency ANP.

Second case

This case is not connected to checks on upwards of 100 prostitutes in private homes, hotels and holiday parks earlier this week. That case led to at least six arrests and a number of other leads.

The raids were triggered by an investigation into home-based prostitution via internet advertising. In a number of suspicious cases, police made an appointment with the prostitute concerned. The meetings were set up in private homes, hotels and holiday parks.

According to the Volkskrant, police had been monitoring 500 websites with names like kinky.nl, citygirl.nl en verhit.nl for potential leads.

Those raids have also provided good information for ongoing investigations, Nos says. In addition, it will allow local councils to take action against unlicenced brothels.