AN INTERNATIONAL prostitution ring and property portfolio built up by Carlow man Thomas (TJ) Carroll and his gang is now expected to crumble, following his jailing for seven years at a Welsh court last week. His partner Shamiela Clarke and daughter Toma Carroll were also jailed for their roles in running the prostitution ring and laundering the money it brought in.

Gardaí this week revealed that members of the Criminal Assets Bureau have begun to investigate and seize many of Carroll's assets. Carlow-based Detective Sergeant Gerry Egan, who was to the forefront of the operation that led to last week's convictions, says Carroll's illegal business empire won't survive.

'The three main players have been jailed, and the Criminal Assets Bureau is investigating. The outfit won't survive,' he said. A CARLOW man who hired and tricked women in to prostitution and threatened them with rape, beatings and African curses was jailed for seven years on Thursday.

Thomas 'TJ' Carroll, who is originally from St Mullins but lived for a number of years at The Fairgreen, Bagenalstown, was jailed for operating a network of 35 brothels here and in Northern Ireland from his home in Wales.

Along with his partner, Shamiela Clark, who was herself jailed for three and a half years, he brought women here and forced them in to a life of prostitution by terrifying them with voodoo curses, beatings and debt.

The pair pleaded guilty in a Welsh court to controlling prostitution and money laundering, and are now behind bars.

A number of African women claimed that they underwent terrifying voodoo rituals in Nigeria before they were trafficked into Ireland on a promise of work or gaining education.

'Carroll and Clark recruited some women through advertisements on the internet and in publications in the UK,' said a spokesman for the UK police. 'Although these women were economically vulnerable, they knew they would have to work as prostitutes.'

Other women were trafficked, in particular from Nigeria, and these women, and sometimes girls, believed they were escaping life in Nigeria to a better life in Ireland.

'One girl was 15 when she was trafficked, another 17,' he said. 'they were told they were going to be educated or gain employment as a seamstress or hairdresser.'

They were subjected to African rituals in Nigeria to frighten them into believing that something terrible would happen to them or their family if they didn't comply.

Some were subjected to debt bonds and made no money because they were endlessly paying off money to Carroll.

One of the Nigerian females recounts how she was told off for crying as it 'put clients off '.

Once under the control of Carroll and Clark in the UK the women would be put into rented apartments or houses and frequently moved around brothels in Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. These properties were often rented by Carroll and Clarke in false names.

A room was set up in Carroll's home in Wales as a call centre where Clark coordinated up to 300 clients' calls in one day for all their brothels in the UK and Ireland. The family effectively ran a booking agency, placing advertising, taking bookings, providing accommodation, and taking a large proportion of the earnings.

The women would be given rules and the rates they should charge.

'The victims were subjected to an oppressive regime,' he added. 'They could not turn down a client. They were required to be available from 10am to 1am, 7 days a week.

'They had to telephone when a client arrived and when he left so that Carroll could keep account of their profits and ensure that they were not taking clients 'on the side'. If they missed a client they were required to pay the fee themselves and were threatened.'