Police staged a large operation Tuesday evening against an alleged pimping network in Amsterdam’s Red Light District, with related arrests also made in Romania.
Arrest units and search teams moved openly through the Wallen, drawing attention from tourists, residents, and sex workers.
Officers with covered faces carried battering rams as they worked the alleys and side streets.
Sniffer dogs were led into buildings on the Oudezijds Achterburgwal and the Oudekerksplein.
Properties searched
A house search took place on the Oudekerksplein.
Several addresses tied to suspects were examined on the Oudezijds Achterburgwal, including a residence sitting between two window-rental businesses.
There, officers also arrested the driver of a bicycle taxi who had been transporting the alleged pimps.
Further entries were made on the Zeedijk and in Gravenstraat, a side street off the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal.
Arrest at a gym
At the TrainMore gym near Oosterdok, an arrest team removed one suspect from among people working out.
He waited handcuffed in the lobby, surrounded by masked officers, while gym-goers leaving the building looked on.
Sex workers whom police and prosecutors consider victims of the network were approached during the action and asked to give statements.
Long-running inquiry
Police and prosecutors have spent a long time building the case on forced prostitution in Amsterdam.
They worked closely with Romanian authorities throughout the investigation.
Details about the suspects and the exact scope of the inquiry are being withheld for now, because those arrested are under restricted conditions and may speak only with their lawyers.
The Dutch police and the City of Amsterdam have for years treated exploitation in the licensed window sector on the Wallen as a priority enforcement issue.
Tuesday’s visible presence underscored how that work continues on the ground in the district itself.
