Spanish police arrest 25 Nigerians for ‘sex trafficking’
Spanish police say they have arrested 25
people in a sex-trafficking ring that brought women from Nigeria to
work as prostitutes.
The women, allegedly lured with the
promise of good jobs in Europe, were first flown to Mexico or Brazil,
travelling on false identity documents.
From there, they were flown to Paris, then smuggled into Spain to work in the sex trade, police say.
Five women who were victims of the sex ring were freed in the raids.
Police found one member of the gang performing an abortion on one of the five women, reports the BBC.
Arrests were made across Spain – in Madrid, Toledo, Cantabria and Palma de Mallorca.
More than 100 vans concealing luxury goods were also seized.
The gang used the vans to launder their profits and send them back to Lagos, police say.
The vans, with dark-tinted windows and welded doors, were stocked full of beer but had luxury items
hidden deeper inside.
Goods worth an estimated 5m euros
(£4.1m; $6.6m) were found in 94 vans seized in Madrid and another 26 in
the port of Valencia, including high-end televisions and cases of
alcohol.
Police say the gang was
formed more than 20 years ago in Nigerian universities and was also
known for sending so-called Nigerian letters by email, asking recipients
to send money.
