One of the ten arrested has been charged with human trafficking, Oslo police said in a press release.
"The police have arrested ten persons and charged them with promoting the prostitution of others by organizing woman from Bulgaria for prostitution in Norway. One of the arrested is also charged with human trafficking," the press release said.
At 8 a.m. Tuesday morning over 60 police officers struck at ten addresses around Oslo. Seven men and three women are now charged under the Procurement Act.
The police action "Operation Hooker" was aimed at Bulgarian prostitutes and their pimps in Oslo. The raids were the result of a long investigation, with the special STOP (Special force against trafficking in Oslo police district) group working since February on the case.
Of the seven men arrested two are Norwegians, three are Norwegian citizens of Turkish origin, one is a Turk and the last a Bulgarian. The three women are all Bulgarian citizens.
"We believe the three women have had an organizational role in having the Bulgarian women sent here," said STOP-leader Øyvind Nordgaren.
The arrested men are alleged to have had a variety of roles in the operation, some are charged with helping bring women into the country, others own apartments where sexual services were sold, others are to have procured clients.
Police say that about 160 Bulgarian prostitutes have come to the country over the past year.
Today's police action was part of an effort to secure evidence in the case, and was carried out on the basis of a decision from Oslo Municipal Court.
