Brazil-Africa sex traffic gang broken up Published duration 25 October 2013

image caption As many as 90 women each year were sent to Africa

Police in Brazil have broken up a gang who were trafficking women for sex to Angola and other parts of Africa.

Five people have been arrested and police are seeking at least 10 other suspects in the Sao Paulo area.

As many as 90 women were supplied each year by the gang for sex with wealthy businessmen and politicians, said a police spokesman.

The people traffickers operated the prostitution ring since 2007.

The gang handled about $45 million over the last six years, said sources in Brazil's Federal Police.

The women are reported to have been linked to an existing prostitution operation based in Sao Paulo or to have worked as models and television actresses.

They were promised large sums of money - between $10,000 and $100,000 per week.

But the payments often did not materialise.

Police also said the women were forced to have sex without using condoms.

They were allegedly offered a fake cocktail of drugs to combat Aids.

The women were sent by the gang mainly to Angola, which has well-established cultural and business links with Brazil, for about two weeks at a time.

But, police said, they also went to South Africa and some countries in Europe.