Nigerian Trafficking, Prostitution Gang Busted In Italy

Italian police on Thursday busted a Nigerian trafficking and prostitution gang that recruited women and girls in Nigeria and sent them to work on the streets of Rome via Libya, judicial sources said.

The victims were brought to Libya by truck or bus and then across the Mediterranean on boats, police said. Once they disembarked they left various migrant reception centres to travel to female pimps called ‘ghost mommies’ who sent them onto the Rome streets.

The accused, who allegedly used voodoo to threaten the trafficking victims and force them into prostitution, have been charged with pimping and slavery.

In all 11 people have been arrested, police said. They have also been charged with exploitation of clandestine immigration. The Nigerian mafia in Italy runs prostitutes across the country. Women and girls are often lured with the promise of a better life and then threatened using voodoo to sell their bodies for sex.