The Ziguinchor regional branch of the National Division for Combating Migrant Smuggling and Related Practices (DNLT) dismantled a vast criminal network involved in international human trafficking on November 20, 2025. This operation followed the revelations of a young Sierra Leonean woman who was the victim of an attempted sexual exploitation.

A victim recruited on Facebook and transported to Ziguinchor

On November 17, 2025, a young Sierra Leonean woman went to the National Division for Combating Migrant Smuggling to report a trafficking network and an attempted sexual exploitation. She explained that she had been recruited on Facebook by a woman who promised her domestic work in Senegal. Transported from Sierra Leone, she was met upon arrival in Ziguinchor by the organizer's partner.

A few days later, two Nigerian women went to his home and paid 300,000 CFA francs to "buy" the Sierra Leonean woman. She was then taken to a camp in Bignona, where she was subjected to ritualistic intimidation and threats intended to force her into prostitution and demand 2,000,000 CFA francs. She managed to escape before alerting the authorities.

A structured network operating between three countries

The investigation launched by the DNLT uncovered an organized criminal network operating between Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Senegal. The arrests made allowed investigators to identify the precise roles of each member: the organizer, responsible for recruiting in Sierra Leone and selling the girls; her partner, responsible for their reception and accommodation in Ziguinchor; the financial manager, who financed the operations; and the transfer coordinator, who organized the victims' travel to the exploitation sites and oversaw the intimidation tactics.

During his hearing, the organizer's partner admitted that approximately fifteen young girls had already been "sold" by her for 300,000 CFA francs each.

New victims are coming forward

Following the arrests, two more victims came forward to investigators. They claim to have been recruited and exploited by two other members of the same criminal network.

Faced with the evidence thus gathered, the organizer finally confessed to being the main person responsible for this particularly active cross-border trafficking between Sierra Leone, Guinea and Senegal.

Six suspects brought before the courts

Following the investigation, the six identified members of the network were brought before the public prosecutor at the Ziguinchor High Court. The investigation is ongoing to determine the extent of the group's activities and to identify any other potential victims.