The government increased law enforcement efforts, but the judiciary did not impose dissuasive sentences on all convicted traffickers. Article 113 of the criminal code criminalizes all forms of trafficking and prescribes penalties ranging from one to 15 years imprisonment, which are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. In 2016, the police conducted five trafficking investigations, which involved 31 criminal acts and 15 perpetrators, compared with six investigations in 2015. Authorities initiated or continued prosecutions involving 21 defendants under article 113 (four of these were initiated during this reporting period), compared with 23 in 2015. The government convicted nine traffickers under article 113 in 2016, compared with three in 2015, none in 2014, and two in 2013. The courts sentenced two traffickers to five years in prison, one person to 3.6 years in prison, and another to 1.6 years in prison, marking an increase in prison terms from previous years. These individuals also received fines ranging from €1,240 to €10,230 ($1,307-$10,780); one of them was also required to turn over €850,000 ($895,680) of illegally gained property. In addition, for four defendants who pled guilty and cooperated with law enforcement, the court issued conditional sentences of one to three years imprisonment if they repeat their crime in the next two to five years. In one additional case, the convicted trafficker had not yet been sentenced at the end of the reporting period. The government conducted specialized training for investigators, prosecutors, judges, border control, and general police forces. Slovenian and Italian police conducted a joint operation to arrest two Slovenians in Brazil involved in an international sex trafficking network that forced young Brazilian women into prostitution in Slovenia. In September 2016, Ljubljana police uncovered a sex and drug trafficking ring that had victimized Slovenian and Serbian women. The government cooperated with Romanian justice authorities to prosecute and convict in Romania four sex traffickers operating in Slovenia who had victimized young Romanian women and a minor.