Romanian national refused bail over brothel case which saw women fly to NI carrying lingerie and nothing else

A 39-year-man accused by police of being involved in trafficking females for sexual exploitation has been refused bail.
Court proceedings are continuingCourt proceedings are continuing
Court proceedings are continuing

Iliuta Costa Andrescu was arrested in Scotland last week on behalf of the PSNI, and appeared in Belfast Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

He faces four charges including human trafficking and controlling prostitution for gain.

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The father of two, who is originally from Romania and who has an address at Onslow Drive in Glasgow, appeared at the remote hearing via a video-link.

A detective constable from Larne CID told the court he believed he could connect Andrescu to the four charges he faced. These include trafficking a human for exploitation on October 4, 2017 and keeping or managing a brothel between October 5, 2017 and June 20, 2018.

When defence barrister Joel Lindsay applied for bail on Andrescu’s behalf, the detective constable told District Judge George Connor that police objected on the grounds he was likely to flee the jurisdiction.

The officer then told the court that in July 2017 two young females arrived at Belfast International Airport with nothing but lingerie in their suitcases, and were taken to a house at Glenbrook Avenue in Belfast.

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The officer said police were alerted to the incident and a proactive investigation was launched by the PSNI’s Human Trafficking Unit.

When police attended the address, Andrescu resided there and had financial links to the property.

The detective constable said that on October 4, 2017 Andrescu’s Mercedes was stopped travelling from Dublin Airport to Belfast, and a female passenger told police she was on holiday in Belfast and was visiting coffee shops.

It’s the police case that later that night, the same woman advertised her services as a prostitute. The detective constable said a second account was used to advertise another female at Damascus Street, and when officers called at that address, a man with links to Andrescu was present.

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When his address was later searched, this man was not present but a woman working as a prostitute was.

After bail was refused, Andrescu was remanded into custody and the case will be listed again on August 10.