Amsterdam draws curtain on sex industry as red light windows close

Amsterdam is set to lose a large chunk of its red light district, after the forced sale of a third of the buildings currently used for prostitution.

With its scantily-clad prostitutes posing in brothel windows and coffee shops oozing the pungent aroma of cannabis smoke, the red light district's seediness has always been part of its attraction.

But the district is a magnet for petty criminals and, authorities believe, human traffickers, drug lords and mobsters - who take advantage of the situation to launder money.