SHARE
COPY LINK

CRIME

French police bust up Nigerian prostitution ring

French police said on Friday they have dismantled a Nigerian prostitution and trafficking network suspected of collecting and laundering tens of millions of euros across the country.

French police bust up Nigerian prostitution ring
A picture taken on October 19, 2013 shows a prostitute near the Matabiau railway station in Toulouse, southwestern France. AFP PHOTO / REMY GABALDA
Thirty people of Nigerian nationality were arrested during two rounds of judicial police raids in June and September following a 15 month investigation.
 
Police identified suspects who collected cash from young Nigerian women prostituting themselves in different cities across France, officers said, estimating the network laundered between €30 and €50 million ($35-58 million) in the last three years. 
 
“The collectors were moving money from Lille, Colmar, Strasbourg, Lyon, Nice, Marseille, Bordeaux, Nantes or Paris,” said head of anti-trafficking agency OCTREH, Jean-Marc Droguet.
 
A hair salon and a grocery store in northern Paris were used as collection points for the money before it was handed over to carriers who concealed the cash in double-bottomed suitcases and left the country.
 
The carriers would sometimes pass through other European capitals and African countries to avoid suspicion, officers said, but the money was always destined for Nigeria.
 
“Everything was going back home,” Droguet said.
 
Two Nigerian mafia gangs, the Supreme Eiye Confraternity (SEC) and Black Axe, were involved in the network, officers said.
 
Police have so far managed to recover just a fraction of the money: €200,000 in March and €250,000 in June.

CRIME

Teen held in France over ‘die a martyr’ Olympics messages

A 16-year-old boy has been arrested in France after he allegedly said on social media he wanted to make an explosive belt and die a martyr at the Paris Olympics this summer, officials said.

Teen held in France over 'die a martyr' Olympics messages

The teenager from the department of Haute-Savoie in southeastern France was arrested on Tuesday, said the anti-terrorist prosecutor’s office, adding a probe had been launched on Wednesday.

The teenager was arrested “following his statements on social media announcing his intention to make an explosive belt with a view to dying a martyr,” the anti-terrorist prosecutor’s office said.

During a search of his parents’ home, handwritten papers were discovered in which the teen had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, a police source said.

According to the same source, the teenager admitted to having planned to commit a “terrorist act” using a gun or explosive belt at La Défense, the business district west of the capital that is also home to an arena hosting swimming and water polo competitions during the Games.

The anti-terrorist prosecutor’s office said work was under way to determine the teen’s exact intentions.

The DGSI, France’s domestic intelligence agency, is conducting an investigation.

France is hosting the Olympic Games in Paris from July 26th to August 11th, with security during the event a major concern.

In March the government raised its terror alert to the highest level.

SHOW COMMENTS