Girls freed from SA prostitution

The girls were given drugs by their captors, police say

A major child prostitution network has been smashed in South Africa, and 59 Nigerian men have been arrested, police say.

Thirteen girls have been rescued from criminals who had forced them into prostitution, said the head of the Johannesburg child protection unit.

He said some of the girls had been kidnapped, while others had been sold to the criminals by their parents.

Police believe the ring is part of a nation-wide child sex syndicate.

Superintendent Andre Neethling, head of the child protection unit in Gauteng, said the girls had been locked up and given crack cocaine, which had made them dependent on their captors.

He said that some of the girls said they had been working as prostitutes since they were just 11 years old.