The investigation into the case already started in March, when the Bergen police spoke to the city’s prostitutes to check how they were doing.
– A pattern has formed, says Bjarte Schrøen, at the Western Police District The newspaper.
He led the nationwide action, which was called “Operation Merkel” in September.
At the same time that police went into action in Bergen, police actions were also carried out in several other police districts. The items were scattered from Bergen in the west, along the coast from Stavanger to Kristiansand and as far east as the villages of Skien and Drammen, the newspaper said.
In total, police raided 19 flats owned and rented by a 46-year-old man from Sandnes. The man had been arrested two days earlier and is indicted in the so-called pimp section. Police believe he assisted pimp networks with apartments.
Brynjar Meling is the man’s lawyer and tells Dagbladet that the man pleads not guilty.
A Ukrainian woman was also accused in the case, who police say has links to Russia.
– My client pleads not guilty. Beyond that, I don’t want to comment on the case, says Kim Brügger Villanger, who is the woman’s lawyer.
