Athens  - Four policemen were among those arrested on Wednesday for trafficking hundreds of women from Eastern Europe into Greece for prostitution, the Athens News Agency reported.

Reports said the officers were among 25 people held during a police operation to dismantle one of the largest sex-trafficking rings in Eastern Europe and the Balkans.

The officers had been dismissed from the force and were due to appear before a public prosecutor and be charged later Wednesday.

Among those arrested was a retired senior police officer believed to be the mastermind behind the group.

The ring was responsible for recruiting more than 300 women and setting them up at several night clubs in Athens over the past six months.

The crackdown followed months of investigation by more than 150 officers when raids were conducted on eight nightclubs, four brothels, two yachts and ten houses.

In recent years Greece has become a major destination and transit country for trafficking women and children from countries in Eastern Europe and parts of Africa.(dpa)