The National Police has dismantled an organization that used 'juju voodoo' rituals to sexually exploit women, of Nigerian origin, who were forced into prostitution in Lanzarote and Palma de Mallorca. In the operation, four victims have been freed and six members of this human trafficking network have been arrested.
The women were "recruited" in their country of origin through "false promises of work and tribal rituals to finally be prostituted", explain from the Police. This ritual was completed with the "sacrifice of some animal in front of the idols of the temple and they took nails or pubic hair from the victims, which would be guarded by the traffickers as a guarantee that they would comply with everything that was demanded of them, under threat of death for them and their families", they add.
Deceived with false job offers in Spain, the victims of this organization pledged under oath to assume a debt of up to 50,000 euros, accepting full subordination and obedience to the 'madame' and her traffickers. "They were forced to cross Niger and Algeria from their country of origin by land until they reached the coasts of Morocco, from where they boarded a boat to Lanzarote", explains the Police, who adds that, "with the aim of obtaining maximum profitability", the detainees sought victims even under age to be exploited on the island or transferred to other parts of the country, such as Mallorca.
Three months of investigation
The investigation, directed and coordinated by the titular judge of the Court of Instruction number 4 of Lanzarote, began last February, when the agents identified a woman of sub-Saharan origin as a possible victim of human trafficking. After being attended to, the woman confirmed the investigators' suspicions. In this way, the Police Force points out, the first investigations "were able to prove the existence of an organization of Nigerian citizens based in Lanzarote and dedicated to the sexual exploitation of their compatriots".
These investigations revealed that each of the detainees had a specific task assigned within the group. After crossing part of the Sahel and arriving on the island by boat, the women were received by those responsible for the properties for a first reception and their subsequent sexual exploitation under strict control. The recruiters of the organization were in charge of selecting each woman for her precarious economic and family situation, "in such a way that using deception they would more easily agree to accept offers to work in Europe".
Six detainees and three house searches
Finally, the police operation resulted in the arrest of all the members of the network identified in national territory, who are charged with the crimes of trafficking in human beings for the purpose of sexual exploitation, membership of a criminal organization, coercive prostitution or pimping and crimes against the rights of foreign citizens.
In this operation, the National Police has carried out three house searches: two in the city of Arrecife (Lanzarote) and another in the city of Palma de Mallorca, where the agents have seized numerous documents related to the sexual exploitation of the victims and effects destined for yuyu voodoo ceremonies.
The operation has been carried out by agents of the UCRIF Central, Las Palmas and Palma de Mallorca, as well as by the respective members of the Citizen Security Brigades and coordinated from the aforementioned Court of Arrecife.
