... Ringleader lives in Ghana
London, 21 January 2007 (The People) -- According to an investigation conducted by the UK newspaper - PEOPLE - girls as young as 14 are on sale in Africa for shipment to Britain as sex slaves for just £3,000.
The naive and frightened teenagers are forced to work in the UK's booming vice industry - where some girls are under threat of VOODOO spells.
The horrifying modern-day slavery is flourishing in the year marking the 200th anniversary of Britain abolishing the slave trade.
One of the ringleaders in this sickening human trafficking is 36-year-old Gladys Ofosu who is based in Ghana, West Africa.
People investigators discovered this vile woman is prepared to...
OFFER a stream of girls aged between 14 and 19 for sale into the UK sex industry.
PARADE their naked bodies on the internet in a squalid modern-day slave auction.
ARRANGE bogus visas so the buyer will have no trouble bringing his purchase to Britain.
CONDEMN the girls to two years of hell under ruthless pimps who are given a signed contract confirming their "ownership".
We launched our investigation into Ofosu after a tip-off about her vile trade which she runs under cover of an international dating agency on the internet.
Posing as a "businessman" called Jim White, our investigator got in touch with the greedy ringleader in a private chat room on the net.
Ofosu, who operates from a private booth in an internet cafe in the Ghanaian capital of Accra, at first offered a pretty 18-year-old called Linda.
She paraded the nervous-looking girl in front of the camera and then ordered Linda to remove her T-shirt to reveal her 34C boobs.
When our man asked: "She will be a sex slave? She will be our property for two years?" Ofosu replied "Yes".
Then to confirm the vile deal, Ofosu faxed a signed contract to our man. The shocking contract read:
"I, Gladys Ofosu, agree to sell Linda Asamoah to Jim White for £3,000. This is a business deal whereby Mr White takes ownership of Ms Asamoah for a period of two years. Ms Asamoah will work for Mr White and will provide sexual services to paying customers. She will receive a share of this money. If this deal works out Mrs Ofosu will sell further girls to Mr White. The girls will be aged between 14 and 19 years old."
And there was no problem about getting Linda into Britain. She can either come here on a holiday visa and then disappear - or get fake papers which are commonly available in Africa.
Ofosu - a divorced mum of one who has a regular job as a firefighter - boasted she has a corrupt friend in Ghana's civil service. In broken English she said: "I speak with the immigration officer and he said he already has a passport with a visa. It is for another person. He is going to take the picture of the other person out and put Linda's picture on it. You must give him £2,000."
It was agreed that a flight - with a return ticket to avoid suspicion - would be booked by Ofosu on Ghana International Airways from the country's Kotoka airport to London's Gatwick for £500.
Then grinning Ofosu turned to YOUNGER girls. She revealed she had lined up three sisters, aged 14, 15, and 17, whom she would like to traffic to Britain into the sex trade. She said: "Have talk with three children. Age of youngest is 14. I have to meet their big sister."
After the meeting, she told our man: "I went to the children's sister's place. She says it is OK for them to come to UK."
We told her we were most interested in the youngest and asked: "The 14-year-old will be OK for sex?" Ofosu replied without hesitation: "OK."
Shockingly, much of the trade in African youngsters has the approval of the victims' poverty-stricken families because they are allowed to send a small amount of money home.
Ofosu said she would have no problem with families allowing young girls to come to the UK for sex because it is "good money for the relatives".
Ofosu revealed another sickening ploy to get more underage girls. She said: "We have a good way to get 13, 14, 15 year olds. There are children who have been abandoned.
"If you want to adopt them they will be yours. Then you can pick them up. We can get them UK passport."
When these tragic girls get to European countries they are often beaten and raped by their pimps. The cost of their travel is also extracted from their squalid earnings.
And the massage parlour bosses can use the threat of voodoo spells to force the gullible teens to have sex day after day with a string of customers.
Although there is no suggestion that Ofosu has resorted to this, the antichild abuse charity Ecpat says: "They are made to undergo religious rituals before they leave West Africa, which may include taking nail clippings, hair cuttings or blood.
"These tokens are taken to make a curse. If the child breaks the curse, they and their families will come to harm, or so they believe."
This modern slavery makes a mockery of campaigners who fought for Britain's Abolition of the Slave Trade Act passed on March 25, 1807.
The United Nations estimates 1.5 million children a year are trafficked worldwide. The US Government's latest report on the scandal says grimly: "Children and women are trafficked from Ghana to Europe for forced labour and sexual exploitation."
And Britain, because of its nearly £1BILLION a year vice industry, is No.1 destination.
Ringleader Ofosu clearly knows what she is planning is wrong. She told our man: "I have to be very careful."
The cynical trafficker who says she is dubbed "Big Mama" because of her 40FF boobs also dreams of coming to Britain to run her own girls.
Today those dreams are over - thanks to The People. Our dossier will be sent to the authorities.
5 FACTS ON SLAVERY
SEX trafficking is the third largest money-making crime in the world behind weapons and drugs trafficking.CURRENT rate to buy a trafficked female already in the UK is roughly £2,000.
MORE people are trafficked globally today than at the height of the Atlantic slave trade.
TRAFFICKED women forced into prostitution in London have sex with between 20 and 30 men a day.
MAXIMUM term for trafficking offences under Britain's Sexual Offences Act is 14 years in jail.