Members of the public who have information or suspicions about human trafficking or sexual exploitation have been called on to contact police.
A sum of cash seized during Operation Bundaleer.
The call comes from the PSNI officer in charge of a case in which three men have pleaded guilty to offences linked to human trafficking.
The three – Bronislav Rybensky, Lyle Lamont and Ferhat Ekici – were arrested as part of Operation Bundaleer, an investigation by PSNI Organised Crime Branch into a Czech-based crime gang involved in the trafficking of women into Northern Ireland for the purposes of sexual exploitation.
Detectives from Organised Crime Branch have welcomed the pleas of guilty by the three men.
The officer in charge of the investigation, Detective Chief Inspector Douglas Grant, said: “This was a complex investigation into an organised crime group moving between different jurisdictions, luring and exploiting women in the sex industry.
“The group profited from the exploitation of the sex workers and trafficked victims, the majority of whom were in a strange country, unable to speak English.
“The final guilty plea today is welcome. It is an indication of the strength of the Organised Crime Branch investigation and case against the defendants.
“I would appeal to anyone who has information or suspicions about trafficking or sexual exploitation to contact police so that we can continue to make Northern Ireland a hostile place for organised crime groups to operate in.”
Between May and August 2011, detectives conducted searches at three premises believed to be brothels controlled by the group and recovered four potential victims of trafficking who had been offering sexual services.
The women – who have all been repatriated – had all travelled to Northern Ireland via Dublin from the Czech Republic.
They had to give most of their earnings to Rybensky and had to pay him for the cost of flights and advertising.
They could only return home once they had earned enough to pay for a return flight.
Whilst some of the women – most of whom could not speak English – accepted they had travelled here to work as escorts, they claimed they were mistreated and exploited by handing over most of their earnings.
Other women claimed they had been lured into coming here for photo shoots but were then told they would have to have sex with men to pay for return flights.
Rybensky was arrested in August 2011 and during a search of his property a large number of mobile phones and sim cards were found along with other items used in relation to escort advertising.
Rybensky pleaded guilty earlier this month to trafficking into the United Kingdom, controlling prostitution, brothel keeping and possession of criminal property.
Lamont was arrested in June 2011 after he was found inside a suspected brothel in Belfast along with three potential victims of trafficking.
Subsequent enquiries established he had rented this apartment and another one for use as a brothel.
Lamont pleaded guilty last week to brothel keeping.
Both Rybensky and Lamont will be sentenced in January.
The third defendant, Ferhat Ekici, pleaded guilty today to brothel keeping and possessing criminal property.
He was fined a total of £500 and had to surrender £670 in cash which was seized during a search of a Belfast property being used as a brothel.
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