Today, Wednesday, Italy received a woman named Joy Geoff, dubbed the "Queen of the Nigerian Mafia", who had been sentenced in absentia to 13 years in prison after being convicted of charges including human trafficking and slavery.
The Italian police said that Nigeria handed over Joy, 48, under an extradition agreement it signed with Italy in 2020, and she was flown from Abuja to Rome.
The police added that she was arrested in Nigeria last June in implementation of an international arrest warrant issued by the Italian authorities.
The Nigerian woman had been wanted in Italy since 2010 for running a criminal prostitution ring.
Investigators said in the city of Ancona (eastern Italy) that it played a major role in smuggling Nigerian girls to Italy, Spain and the Netherlands, where they are forced by violence and threats into prostitution.
TV footage
Television footage showed the woman walking with difficulty before sitting in a wheelchair while police escorted her upon her arrival in Rome.
As a senior leader in the criminal organization dubbed the "Black Mafia" in Italy, Joy forced women in the countries where they were located to work as prostitutes.
According to the Italian police, the woman's name was on the list of the 100 most dangerous fugitive criminals, as well as being one of the few female bosses in the Nigerian mafia.
The police explained that the black mafia organization is one of the most powerful emerging criminal groups in the world due to its danger and the international network that operates within it.