'Monster' Sex Trafficking Network Preys on Vulnerable Children
Spanish police are engaged in a major operation to dismantle an international sex trafficking ring described as 'monsters' for preying on vulnerable children in care homes across the Canary Islands. The holiday hotspot, immensely popular with British tourists, has become the centre of a horrifying investigation after 14 children, predominantly girls, vanished from care facilities.
Operation Triton: The International Hunt
The alarming disappearances triggered a massive police investigation, codenamed 'Operation Triton'. Authorities believe the children, who had been living in care homes in Arrecife, Lanzarote, and one from Gran Canaria, were smuggled off the islands to be sold into sexual slavery in France. The network is alleged to have used a route of safe houses through mainland Spain before crossing the Pyrenees.
To date, eleven alleged traffickers have been arrested in connection with the disappearances, which occurred between November 2024 and May 2025. During raids on properties in Lanzarote, officers seized personal documents, electronic devices, and cash. Four of the suspects are now in pre-trial detention, facing charges including human trafficking, child pornography offences, and document forgery.
A System Under Strain and International Complicity
The criminal gang is accused of specifically targeting 'easy prey' – unaccompanied migrant children who have arrived on the islands from Africa in small boats. The Canary Islands' care system, which now looks after 37% of all unaccompanied minors in Spain, is reported to be at breaking point, struggling to cope with the influx.
Officials confirmed that children in these homes are not under 24-hour surveillance and are free to come and go, making them easy targets. The gang, with links to Morocco and the Ivory Coast for obtaining falsified documents, allegedly used private vehicles for transport and funneled payments through crypto wallets to avoid detection.
Marciano Acuna, the Minister of Social Welfare, stated, "We are the ones who alerted them and are collaborating with the National Police to get to the bottom of it." In a separate case on Gran Canaria, another investigation is examining the exploitation of 34 minors taken from care homes for use in prostitution.
In response to the crisis, the Spanish government has authorised the transfer of hundreds of minors to reception centres on the mainland. The UNHCR has emphasised that protecting these children, many of whom are fleeing conflict, forced marriage, or female genital mutilation, is a 'shared responsibility'.
