Three people have been arrested after police in Leeds raided two suspected brothels thought to be connected with people trafficking.
Officers smashed the door in at a terraced house on Colenso Grove in Holbeck after receiving intelligence it was being used as a sex den.
They then visited a semi-detached house on Scott Hall Road, Scott Hall, after receiving further information that it may be connected.
Two men, aged 24 and 22, were arrested at the house in Holbeck and a woman in her 20s was arrested at the house on Scott Hall Road.
Sgt Sam Greaves, of Holbeck Neighbourhood Policing Team, who led yesterday afternoon’s raids, said: “We received good intelligence that these properties were being used as brothels.
“While at the addresses we found evidence to suggest that was the case. It’s antisocial and illegal and residents were aware of what was going on.
“Why should they be allowed to get away with it?”
At a briefing before the raids, officers heard the first property was connected to advertisements for “massage” and “escort” services on a classified advertising website.
A Romanian man known to have used the address is suspected of transporting women from his home country under duress to work in the sex trade at brothels in Leeds and Bradford.
Two women who had been cautioned after being arrested at a suspected brothel in Bradford in May were thought to be running the Holbeck brothel.
The two men arrested at Colenso Grove were last night being questioned on suspicion of money laundering and possession of an offensive weapon after a knife was found.
The woman was being questioned on suspicion of running a brothel.
A resident of Colenso Grove said: “Good riddance. You get trucks coming down here at all hours asking where the massage parlour is.
“It’s been going on for about three months. I’ve got a little girl and I don’t like her playing outside because of it.”
Another said: “I’ve lived on this street for 51 years and it never used to be like this. I’m glad to see the back of them.”