Catania police have arrested ten alleged members of a criminal group suspected of trafficking and sexually exploiting young Nigerian women. The operation called 'Promise Land' led to the arrest of the suspected human traffickers, investigative sources said.
Authorities in Catania have issued 14 arrest warrants against the alleged members of a criminal group being accused of trafficking and sexually exploiting young Nigerian women including minors.
On June 12, police arrested ten alleged members of the organization in Sicily as well as in the northern cities of Novara, Verona and Mondovì, near Cuneo.
Investigative sources said members of the organization, mostly Nigerian citizens, spoke in wiretapped conversations about the young women as "cars" that needed to be brought to Italy with the promise of a job in order to be forced into prostitution.
The police operation that led to the suspects' arrest was for this reason called 'Promise Land'. The organization allegedly trafficked young women using contacts in north Africa and in particular in Libya, investigators said.
Operation 'Promise Land'
Police in Catania coordinated by the local state attorney's office also seized credit cards and prepaid cards that proved the transfer of €1.2 million since the beginning of the investigation.
Starting in April 2017 after the arrival of a group of migrants aboard rescue vessel Aquarius operated by NGO SOS Mediterranee, the investigation "shed light on numerous cases in which young Nigerian women were trafficked," investigative sources said.
In particular, the probe started after a young Nigerian woman who was among 433 migrants who arrived in Catania with the Aquarius on April 7, 2017, reported her exploiters to the police.
Threats and coercion
The girl, whom investigators called Giuly to protect her real identity, said she had been tricked with another 14 young Nigerian women into travelling to Italy with the promise of a job.
The victims were forced to participate in a ju-ju or voodoo rite as well as threatened and coerced to pay a ''debt'' of
€
25,000 through prostitution, investigators said.
Giuly told police that she traveled to Italy from Libya, where she was detained in a "connection house" before boarding a rickety boat. She was then rescued with the other migrants and taken to Catania. Once in Italy, she was forced into prostitution.
Payments to 'voodoo priest'
The organization had an unusual payment method, investigators said. Instead of victims and their families paying the money directly to traffickers, they gave it to a 'priest,' who then forwarded it to the organization.
According to investigators, this system enabled the exploiters to psychologically control the youths and their families while keeping the money in Nigeria, where it was invested in real estate or given to Libyan traffickers to pay for new trips for other young victims.
