A Nigerian female trafficker who forced dozens of teenage orphans into prostitution and slavery using the threat of witchcraft is facing jail.
Franca Asemota, known to her victims as ‘Auntie Franca’, used Heathrow as a hub to traffic at least 40 girls and young women into Europe from remote Nigerian villages.
The 38-year old promised them jobs, education and a better life, then used ‘witchcraft’, threats and violence to force them in to the European sex trade.
Her gang even managed to snatch back two girls who had been rescued and put in in foster care in Worthing, West Sussex.
On Wednesday, Asemota, originally from Benin City, Nigeria, was found guilty of eight counts of conspiracy to traffic people into sexual exploitation by a jury at Isleworth Crown Court.
The trafficking first came to light when Border Agency officials stopped two groups, in September and November 2011, travelling on false passports.
Although she was not arrested at the time, Asemota’s ticket had been booked at the same time, at the same travel agent in Lagos, and she was sat next to the group on the plane.
Investigators then linked Asemota to at least six other ‘successful trafficking trips’ and the kidnapping of two girls who had been placed in foster care on the south coast.
Paul Cabin, prosecuting, previously told the court how three victims were first stopped at Heathrow in September, 2011, and a further two were also to give detailed accounts of the smuggling.
They all travelled on fake passports that claimed they were over the age of 18.
Mr Cabin said: ‘They all came from remote Nigerian villages and had all been told that they were going to be educated, trained and employed in France.
‘They all had difficult histories – for example, some were orphans. One was a runaway from an attempted forced marriage.
Martin French, head of the NCA’s UK Human Trafficking Centre, said: ‘Franca Asemota and her criminal network took advantage of these vulnerable young women in some of the worst ways possible.
‘They promised them a better life, but in reality treated them as nothing more than a commodity to be sold into slavery.
‘Asemota thought she could evade arrest by fleeing Europe and hiding in Nigeria. But the NCA’s partnerships give us global reach and mean international borders are no barrier to justice.’
Asemota flew with the girls on flights from Lagos, Nigeria, to Heathrow between August 2011 and May 2012 with the intention of reaching France.
The Home Office said the girls were not detected in the UK airport because they remained air-side during transit.
But they were caught by French authorities who spotted their false travel documents.
Franca Asemota, known to her victims as ‘Auntie Franca’, used Heathrow as a hub to traffic at least 40 girls and young women into Europe from remote Nigerian villages.
The 38-year old promised them jobs, education and a better life, then used ‘witchcraft’, threats and violence to force them in to the European sex trade.
Her gang even managed to snatch back two girls who had been rescued and put in in foster care in Worthing, West Sussex.
On Wednesday, Asemota, originally from Benin City, Nigeria, was found guilty of eight counts of conspiracy to traffic people into sexual exploitation by a jury at Isleworth Crown Court.
The trafficking first came to light when Border Agency officials stopped two groups, in September and November 2011, travelling on false passports.
Although she was not arrested at the time, Asemota’s ticket had been booked at the same time, at the same travel agent in Lagos, and she was sat next to the group on the plane.
Investigators then linked Asemota to at least six other ‘successful trafficking trips’ and the kidnapping of two girls who had been placed in foster care on the south coast.
Paul Cabin, prosecuting, previously told the court how three victims were first stopped at Heathrow in September, 2011, and a further two were also to give detailed accounts of the smuggling.
They all travelled on fake passports that claimed they were over the age of 18.
Mr Cabin said: ‘They all came from remote Nigerian villages and had all been told that they were going to be educated, trained and employed in France.
‘They all had difficult histories – for example, some were orphans. One was a runaway from an attempted forced marriage.
Martin French, head of the NCA’s UK Human Trafficking Centre, said: ‘Franca Asemota and her criminal network took advantage of these vulnerable young women in some of the worst ways possible.
‘They promised them a better life, but in reality treated them as nothing more than a commodity to be sold into slavery.
‘Asemota thought she could evade arrest by fleeing Europe and hiding in Nigeria. But the NCA’s partnerships give us global reach and mean international borders are no barrier to justice.’
Asemota flew with the girls on flights from Lagos, Nigeria, to Heathrow between August 2011 and May 2012 with the intention of reaching France.
The Home Office said the girls were not detected in the UK airport because they remained air-side during transit.
But they were caught by French authorities who spotted their false travel documents.
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