Five Arrested In Child Slavery

Five people have been arrested for trying to send 90 young people out of Benin to be sold as slaves, police said Saturday.

The slavers were about to load the children and young adults into buses to be driven to the neighboring West African nation of Gabon when police moved in Thursday, authorities said. The captives ranged in age from 13 to 25.

Already this year, authorities have intercepted more than 700 young people being sent abroad for sale into forced labor. The traffickers generally are from Benin or neighboring Nigeria, police say.

Poor parents often sell their children for $20 to $80, according to authorities. The children are forced to work without pay as servants or vendors.