• Four Bulgarian nationals were arrested in mid-April in Bruges, north of Bordeaux.

  • They were indicted for aggravated pimping and human trafficking.

  • The Bordeaux prosecutor's office did not wish to "communicate on the extent of the network" and the number of victims.

Four Bulgarian nationals were indicted for aggravated pimping and human trafficking after their arrest in mid-April in an informal camp in Bruges, north of Bordeaux, from where they operated a prostitution network, it was reported. learned Friday from the prosecution and from a source close to the investigation.

These very mobile individuals, who cross borders easily, are accused of being at the head of a "pimping network" whose scope would be "larger" than the "three victims" known to date, a explained a source close to the investigation.

Young women "threatened, abused"

They found young women in Bulgaria whom they persuaded to come to France.

Prostituted under duress on the boulevards of Bordeaux or truck drivers' parking areas, these girls were "threatened, abused" if they resisted and "maintained in a state of material dependence", explained this source.

The investigation, started in 2019 and led by the Brigade for the Repression of Banditry and Pimping (BRBP), under the direction of the Specialized Interregional Jurisdiction (JIRS) of Bordeaux, focused on the alleged leader of the network, a man 36-year-old arrested with his wife and two other men, his "lieutenants".

According to the same source, confirming information from the

Sud Ouest newspaper,

this man was able to continue to lead the network when he was imprisoned in Bulgaria in 2020, giving orders to his wife from his cell.

Pretrial Detention and Judicial Review

Since 2019, the respondents have crossed borders on multiple occasions and alternated stays between France, Bulgaria, Germany and Italy where the head of the network is already known for this type of incident.

Three of the respondents were placed in pre-trial detention and a fourth under judicial control, according to the Bordeaux prosecutor's office, which did not wish to "communicate on the extent of the network" and the number of victims.

Cash and a "high-value German sedan" were seized during the arrest of the four individuals, according to the source close to the investigation, who explains that their criminal activity ensured them a "certain lifestyle" in Bulgaria.

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  • Justice

  • Bordeaux

  • Prostitution

  • Pimping

  • Aquitaine