MOSCOW, October 15 (RIA Novosti) - Russian authorities have completed a preliminary investigation into the case of a gang accused of selling over 130 women into sexual slavery, a top official said Wednesday.
"It has been established that from 1999 to 2007, the criminal group took to Israel, Italy, Germany, Greece, Holland and the Arab Emirates over 130 women, including nationals of Russia, Uzbekistan, Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus, subsequently selling them into sexual slavery," Justice Major General Alexander Sorochkin said.
Sorochkin said the joint military and Federal Security Service investigation had lasted more than 2 years. In this time, investigators managed not only to establish the identities of the gang members, but also those behind its activities, he said.
A total of 13 people, a mixture of Israeli, Moldovan and Russian nationals, have been accused of participation in the group's activities.
