A TEENAGE Lithuanian girl was beaten, threaten and forced into prostitution in Newport by her captors to "pay off" her debt.

Members of an Eastern European organised gang were jailed for more than 30 years for sex trafficking offences.

Edita Tavoraite, 26, and Tafil Kadria, 26, both from Newport, and Xhevdet Cikaj, 29, and Lavdrim Cikaj, 30, from Manchester, were arrested in 2008 as part of Operation Adject.

The operation began in October 2007, when Gwent Police located and rescued an 18-year-old Lithuanian woman, from the Maindee area of Newport.

The woman had come to the UK in July 2007, having been promised work as a cleaner or shopworker.

When she arrived she was handed over to Xhevdet Cikaj and told she would have to work as a prostitute.

She refused and asked to return to Lithuanian, but was beaten, imprisoned and threatened by both Xhevdet Cikaj and Lavdrim Cikaj until she complied.

She worked as a prostitute in Manchester for a time, before being sold to Tavoraite and Kadria for £2000 and brought to Newport. The woman was forced to work in brothels for up to a week at a time in Newport to pay off her “debt.”

Eventually she was able to contact her family back home, who contacted the Lithuanian authorities.

Officers from Gwent police worked with forces in South Wales, Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire, alongside the UK Human Trafficking Centre, Lithuanian police and the Crown Prosecution Service, to locate the woman and she was interviewed by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) vulnerable persons team.

Lithuanian-born Tavoraite and Albanian Kadria were sentenced to three-and-a-half years and 13 years respectively for sex trafficking within the UK and control of prostitution for gain.

Xhevdet Cikaj, originally from Albania, was jailed for 12 years for control of prostitution for gain, sex trafficking into the UK and sex trafficking within the UK and Lavdrim Cikaj, also Albanian, was sentenced to three years for control of prostitution for gain and possession of identity documents with intent.

Sentencing, Judge Brown, said the woman will never be able to return home because of the shame she feels for her ordeal. All four will be deported when they are released from prison.

Mick Layton, SOCA deputy director, said: "This was a terrifying position for a young woman to find herself in. She had no friends in the UK and was entirely dependent on the people who abused her.

She was deceived, exploited and treated as a commodity.

"It is a tribute to the bravery and determination of the victim in this case that we have been able to identify and successfully prosecute the people responsible."