Six alleged traffickers to stand trial for forcing young women into prostitution in Lanzarote
The Provincial Court of Las Palmas is preparing to hear a disturbing human-trafficking case on 25th and 26th November, in which seven people stand accused of luring vulnerable young Nigerian women to Spain and forcing them into prostitution in Lanzarote and other Spanish cities.
According to prosecutors, the network is made up of Nigerian nationals living in Spain. They targeted women in Nigeria by falsely promising jobs and a safe route to Europe. Instead, the victims were allegedly coerced, threatened and subjected to a “voodoo” ritual designed to terrify them into obedience. They were warned that any attempt to resist would lead to violence against them or their families back home.
Investigators say the organisation orchestrated a gruelling and dangerous trafficking route, smuggling the women from Nigeria to Greece through irregular border crossings, then moving them through Paris before flying them to Madrid. Once in Spain, the victims were handed directly to the group’s leaders, who transported them to Lanzarote to be exploited.
One survivor, now under protected-witness status, told authorities she was taken to a house in Arrecife before being driven to Puerto del Carmen and forced into prostitution. Prosecutors say she was controlled by S.O., a Nigerian woman described as the network’s ringleader, who allegedly ordered the recruitment of the victims and oversaw their exploitation.
The women were told they had been saddled with a fabricated “debt” of €55,000 and had to repay it through prostitution in Lanzarote, Madrid and Vitoria. Despite earning as much as €120 per client, the victims allegedly received nothing, with every euro taken by the accused under threat of violence.
Prosecutors say the women were abused daily if they didn’t make enough money and were kept tightly controlled. They were reportedly only allowed to leave their accommodation to work on the streets or to travel to other cities where they would continue to be exploited.
It is thought that others known as S.V. and S.I. acted as enforcers, monitoring the women as they worked, arranging accommodation and escorting them to airports when they were moved between cities. The other defendants, S.N., G.O.E., J.M.A. and W.A., allegedly provided housing in Madrid and Vitoria where the women were kept under control and forced into further prostitution.
According to investigators, the victims lived in constant fear, convinced that any attempt to escape or contact authorities would endanger their lives or lead to retaliation against their families in Nigeria. The alleged ritual practices were used as an additional tool of intimidation to ensure compliance.
The trafficking ring was uncovered through a major nationwide operation involving the National Police, the Immigration Brigade, the Human Trafficking Unit of the Mossos d’Esquadra, police in Vitoria and Arrecife’s Court of Instruction No. 4.
The Public Prosecutor is seeking up to eleven and a half years in prison for the alleged ringleader, and up to eight years for the remaining defendants. A compensation payment of €40,000 is also being requested for the protected witness.
Human trafficking is a grave crime and a direct attack on human dignity and freedom. Anyone with information is urged to contact the National Police on 900 10 50 90 or trata@policia.es.
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