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.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
