The terror regime of the Sandulache brothers | Society

Jenica says she thought that only by taking her own life would she escape from the hell she found in Asturias. That only by throwing herself out the window would she escape the blows, the humiliations, the hours of forced labor as a prostitute and the threats. That way she would not have to listen to the screams that they were going to rape her or burn her grandmother ... But she could not commit suicide. She feared too much the reprisals that her companions could suffer, survivors of a real regime of terror established by the clan of the Sandulache brothers in the Delphos club, the Models and three floors of Rabanal, Amsterdam and Havana streets in Oviedo.

"They obliged [a sus víctimas], with physical and psychological violence, to perform activities of hostess and prostitution in different places ", underlines the Audiencia Provincial de Asturias, which has just condemned these two pimps, Sebastián and Cristian Alin Sandulache, more than 50 years in prison. According to the judges, who have also failed against two other components of the clan, they had erected a "stable criminal structure" since 2010 to recruit women from poor areas of Romania and move them to Spain to prostitute them. To do this, they pretended that they began a relationship with them. Or, taking advantage of their precarious situation, they convinced them that once in their destination they would help them find a well-paid job.

But everything was a lie. Once in Asturias, the abuse began. The beatings were daily. The women narrate how the clan of the Sandulache brothers lined them up, for example, to see how they beat and threatened those who refused to fulfill their mandates, who were trying to flee, who did not get enough money in the strenuous days that started at five in the afternoon and lasted beyond five in the morning ...

Nicoleta (fictitious name, like that of all the victims mentioned in this information) told her that they were going to tear her up and put her in a suitcase - "If you want to stay alive you have to obey the orders," they repeated. Ionela was forced to eat money bills cut into pieces with water. Mihaela was forced to abort. And to Oana they put a catana in his neck, before hitting him with the sword in the arm and making a cut that took her to the hospital. "[Otro testigo] He reported that, on one occasion, a girl cut his tongue, "adds the ruling of the Provincial Court, which amounts to 1.2 million euros the amount that the two Romanian brothers, aged 39 and 35, obtained through of the sexual exploitation of its victims.

The magistrates have considered proven that the two accused committed the crimes of trafficking in human beings, coercive prostitution, against the rights of workers, money laundering and injuries. They have counted at least nine victims. "This Chamber has no doubt that all women have been engaged in prostitution against their will, subjected to all kinds of harassment and psychological pressure, living an authentic situation of subjection without the slightest freedom," the judges add, They detail in their resolution the system mounted by the Sandulache.

Once the women landed in Spain, the clan took away all documentation and mobile phones. They were prevented from communicating with their relatives - they could only call them after obtaining permission from the clan and, often, in the presence of one of the members - and they could not go out alone to the street. In addition, they were told that they would practice prostitution to pay 200 euros a day to pay for travel expenses. Although they never told them what the exact amount of the debt incurred was.

Live with "the soul in the mouth"

Fear never goes away. It is always there even if the police dismantled part of the Sandulache clan. One of the victims narrated in the trial how, after fleeing to A Coruña, another member of the organization found her to change her statement. Since then, lives with "the soul in the mouth," he said, terrified by the reprisals of a compound clan, according to the sentence, for more relatives who participated in the diversion of the benefits obtained by the two brothers.