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Sofia - Ten Bulgarians involved in trafficking women to France to work as prostitutes have been arrested following a joint operation by Bulgarian and French authorities, the national investigation service said Friday.
"We received 13 European arrest warrants from the French authorities but three of the wanted men are outside Bulgaria. The other ten were arrested in the towns of Pazardzhik and Plovdiv," NIS press officer Darina Ivanova told AFP.
She added that five other men had already been arrested in France for involvement in the same organised crime group engaged in trafficking women to the city of Marseille.
Between 2002 and 2005, the group transferred at least 105 Bulgarian girls to France and forced them to work as prostitutes, Ivanova said.
"The French authorities said this was the biggest ever human trafficking case investigated in Marseille," she added.
A court of appeal has yet to issue extradition orders for the ten arrested but, if convicted in France, they face jail terms of up to ten years.
This is the second anti-trafficking operation to be held jointly by Bulgarian and French authorities this year. In late March, police busted another group of five Bulgarians involved in trafficking women to work as prostitutes in the French city of Lyon.
AFP
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