A large-scale preliminary investigation into human trafficking at massage parlours in the Helsinki metropolitan area has been completed by the Helsinki Police Department’s National Police Unit Specialized in Investigation of Human Trafficking Crimes, the agency announced on Thursday.
Based on the preliminary investigation, police suspect that mostly workers with no Finnish or Swedish language skills have been recruited from abroad to work as masseurs in the Helsinki metropolitan area.
“The police suspect that several employees have been forced to work more than 12 hours a day, up to 6-7 days a week, which is significantly different from the working hours required by Finnish working time legislation,” said Detective Superintendent Hannu Kortelainen, the investigation’s director.
Police also suspect that the workers’ wages were not properly compensated for the amount of hours they worked. The press release also said that some workers may have been housed in the same premises as the massage parlours.
Police believe the operation to have started in 2009 and have continued until the arrest of the suspects earlier this year.
The preliminary investigation was completed in July 2023, after which the entire preliminary investigation was submitted to the prosecution.
Source: Yle
