An international operation in Amsterdam has identified 51 potential female victims of human trafficking and five suspects after investigators scrutinised online recruitment and advertising activity.
The three-day event — held from 23 to 25 September 2026 — brought together 40 experts from 20 countries to examine how traffickers use websites, social media and messaging apps to recruit people, advertise services and organise exploitation across borders, Europol announced on Friday.
The work was led by the Netherlands and co-led by Germany, Romania and the United Kingdom, with police officers, labour authorities and online investigation specialists taking part alongside support from Europol and Eurojust.
Investigators said they focused on signs of trafficking linked to sexual exploitation, labour exploitation and forced criminality — when victims are coerced into committing crimes.
Europol pointed out that participants gathered investigative leads to share with national authorities for possible follow-up investigations.
Tracking recruitment and adverts across platforms
During two operational action days, teams searched publicly available online information and cross-checked links between recruitment profiles, advertisements, phone numbers and other identifiers, Europol said.
The operation also identified six potential criminal networks, while checking 26 online platforms, 77 social network accounts and 166 entities such as usernames, locations and phone numbers.
Investigators found several leads involving recruitment for sexual services through messaging apps, including accounts promising women high earnings and easy work.
On adult service websites, investigators found phone numbers used across multiple adverts, including one number linked to 109 profiles and another linked to 74, with adverts referring to Asian women reportedly working in several EU and non-EU countries.
Participants also flagged a messaging group that appeared to contain recruitment offers for organ donors and replies from other profiles, with preliminary information suggesting possible links to a hospital or private clinic outside the EU.
