Human smugglers in the UK

Human traffickers sell sex slave on Britain’s busiest street

By Sophie Freeman
Last updated at 11:19 AM on 08th December 2009

Pimps sold a young woman as a sex slave in broad daylight on Britain’s busiest shopping street.

A brothel owner paid just £3,000 for the Lithuanian victim, a woman in her 20s, in the transaction on London’s Oxford Street.

Police surveillance footage shows an Albanian man handing over the cash to two of his countrymen outside Selfridges department store as shoppers pass by, unaware of what is happening.

Caught in the act: Gazmet Turku hands over £3,000 to Izzet Fejzullahu (second from right) and Agran Demarku (right) in Oxford Street. He is ‘buying’ the Lithuanian woman pictured on the left to work in his brothel. All three Albanian men have been jailed and the girl returned to Lithuania

The helpless woman - guarded by a thug - is forced to watch as the men discuss the deal.

She would have been expected to earn her new ‘owner’ £100,000 a year by having sex up to 25 times a day in a brothel.

On this occasion, the woman was lucky. Police swooped to free her and her traffickers were jailed for a total of 63 years.

The Home Office estimated that in 2003, the most recent figures available, 4,000 women were trafficked into the UK for prostitution.

Police warn that the numbers of Eastern Europeans being trafficked into the UK will grow significantly in the run up to the London 2012 Olympic Games.

A rise in so-called ‘vice activity’ has already been detected in the five Olympic boroughs of Newham, Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest and Greenwich, to cater for demand from 25,000 construction workers.

A special police squad has been set up to tackle the trafficking. Officers cite the example of a 16-year-old Albanian girl who thought she was coming to London for a romantic weekend with her boyfriend. When they arrived, he handed her over to pimps.

Police released the photo of the woman being trafficked on Oxford Street in a bid to raise awareness of the problem.

Seller number one, Izzet Fejzullahu - an Albanian vice gang member - is pictured selling the girl for £3,000. He was jailed for 14 years at London’s Southwark Crown Court for controlling prostitution.

Seller number two, Albanian Agran Demarku, is seen discussing the deal with the brothel owner. He was sentenced to 18 years, as was his brother, Flamur, who stood guard over the girl.

The buyer, brothel owner Gazmet Turku, was also jailed.

Detective Chief Superintendent Richard Martin, of the Metropolitan Police Clubs and Vice Unit, said: ‘The man to the left in the picture has £3,000 in cash in his hand, with which he is buying a human being.

‘She is just a commodity to them. She is an item for selling sex.

‘The man is buying the girl for his own brothel from the men to his right, who ran a network of nine brothels. He is simply replenishing his stock, as a shopkeeper would.

‘These women are put into slavery and exploited in the vilest way.’

Detective Superintendent Martin said 25 trafficked women had been rescued by his unit this year.

‘We have had people kidnapped and smuggled into the UK,’ he said. ‘Others came in thinking they were working in bars but were put to work in brothels.

‘Their passports were taken, they were threatened - and some were systematically raped and beaten up.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1233780/Human-traffickers-sell-sex-slave-Britains-busiest-street.html#ixzz0Z8sg9uLZ

Two women accused of human trafficking prostitutes, have been put into custody without bail until 11th December. Their victims in the case number at least three and police are also investigating those purchasing the sexual services that were on offer.

Reykjavik Police have been investigating the case for several weeks and a city centre brothel has already been closed down during the investigation.

One of the women now in custody is 20 and the other is 30 and both are Icelandic citizens.

The elder of the two, Catalina Ncogo was sentenced to two-and-a-half years’ prison for other pimping and drugs offences.

Police say at least three other women are involved in the case but will not be charged because prostitution is not illegal in Iceland – whereas a third person profiting from the act (so-called pimping) is illegal.

At the same time as the two women were arrested yesterday, two house searched were also carried out in relation to the case and small amounts of illegal drugs were found in one. Further information from police was not forthcoming, RUV reports.

/Christian News Wire/ — We are pleased to announce that doctors around the world are joining the battle against human trafficking.

Doctors At War, a newly formed nonprofit organization, is putting out a call-to-action for doctors worldwide to join them in the fight against the global sex trade. The long-term healthcare ramifications of the estimated 27 million victims throughout the world include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), panic attacks, depression, and a host of other mental health issues along with countless physical health problems including HIV, STD’s, malnutrition, sterility, and the effects of repeated physical trauma. The cost worldwide to provide mental and physical healthcare for these survivors will be overwhelming.

“Although I have committed my life to American children victimized by prostitution, I wanted to learn more about these children in other countries. I thought this would be a good opportunity to learn about the plight of those children and an opportunity to lend my expertise” states Dr. Lois Lee, a member of the Board of Directors. Dr. Lee is also founder of Children of the Night, a California shelter for young girls who have previously been trapped in commercial sexual exploitation.

Board of Directors member Dr. Mark Boustred, a Colorado plastic surgeon who specializes in pediatric craniofacial abnormalities, adds: “One of the greatest blots on the face of humanity in our modern times is the abhorrent global abuse of woman and children as sex slaves. This evil epitomizes mankind at its worst — total denigration and disregard of a fellow human being for the sake of money, sex and power. These crimes go beyond mere selfishness and greed — they demand a total searing of conscience, a heart of stone, and a giving of the perpetrator’s self over to evil. Doctors At War seeks to fight this evil, and to bring relief, rescue and restoration to the victims. I am honored to be able to make a contribution to this effort.”

Doctors At War will work on projects focused on the intersection of healthcare and human trafficking. With hundreds of doctors from approximately 20 countries already involved, this is expected to be a globally influential organization.

Those who wish more information about this organization, an interview with a Board member, or to see current projects and the future vision for Doctors At War, please visit the organizational website at: www.doctorsatwar.org or call 1-888-552-8927.