SEVEN women thought to be victims of sex trafficking were rescued today in raids aimed at smashing a criminal gang, police said.

Nine people were arrested - three women and six men - on suspicion of trafficking, controlling prostitution for gain, money laundering and possession of a stun gun.

The swoop stemmed from last year's Operation Rize, which targeted safety deposit boxes allegedly used by criminals to store assets.

Officers executed search warrants at 7am at nine premises across London and Hertford-shire - four alleged brothels, four home addresses and one business address.

Those arrested were being taken to a central London police station.

The arrests followed a 10-month intelligence-led operation, codenamed Sanders, into an organised criminal network concerned with the trafficking of women for the purpose of sexual exploitation, the spokesman said.

He added that five days after Operation Rize began last June, a woman was arrested when £150,000 in cash was found in a safe deposit box at a depository on Finchley Road.

A parallel money laundering investigation had led to the freezing of £96,000 in a bank account owned by the woman and identified a further £800,000 which had been transferred abroad over the last five years, the spokesman said.