(Photos)25 Nigerians busted by police in Spain for Human Trafficking

At least 25 people have been apprehended
by police operatives in Spain as part of a
crackdown on a sex trafficking ring which
lured women from Nigeria to the European
country with promises of a better life.
The Spanish police were reported to have
said that the Nigerian women, who fell
victim to the ruse and were forced into
prostitution on their arrival, would make
their first stop in Mexico or Brazil using
falsified travel documents.
The women would then allegedly be flown
to the French capital, Paris, before they
made their final stop in Spain, the land
where they would be held captive.
Nigerian Eye reports:
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.
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.