Voodoo Child Smugglers Busted in Netherlands

Dutch police have broken a child prostitution ring that used voodoo to control its young charges, authorities announced today. Authorities found missing Nigerian children prostituting themselves in France, Italy, and Spain, apparently obeying mystic vows given them by their kidnappers and voodoo shamans. Police have so far arrested dozens accused of smuggling the children into Western countries by abusing the asylum system.

Children were flown to Amsterdam and instructed to seek asylum, landing them in open shelters where it was easy for “madames” to regain control of them and force them to repay vague debts. About 140 asylum-seeking children have disappeared from Dutch facilities since last January. Police arrested suspects in the Netherlands, US, Britain, and Germany, the BBC reports. (More Amsterdam stories.)