A BBC World Service investigation has alleged that Charles “Abbey” Mwesigwa, a man formerly employed as a London bus driver, ran an illegal prostitution network in Dubai that trafficked and coerced vulnerable women into extreme sexual acts for wealthy clients.
Undercover reporting for BBC Eye and the World of Secrets podcast included footage in which an individual identified as Mwesigwa is recorded saying women under his control would do “pretty much everything” clients asked. Former associates and women who say they were trapped by the network told reporters they were lured to the United Arab Emirates with promises of legitimate jobs but were forced into sex work to repay debts for flights, visas and living costs.
A man identified as Troy, who said he worked for Mwesigwa, told the BBC that women arriving in Dubai were told they owed money and could only repay by providing sexual services. "If the girls said ‘I’m not ready to provide sex,’ he would keep them inside the room until they agreed," Troy said. He said clients included wealthy men who sought “fantasies” and that some acts were ones he had “never seen in his life.”
Several women interviewed said some clients paid for extreme and degrading sexual acts, including one woman who said a client regularly demanded to defecate on the women. Investigators said many clients were white Europeans and alleged that some sought extreme acts because of the women’s race. One of the programmes' aims was to probe the truth behind the viral hashtag #DubaiPortaPotty, which circulated online as a claim that influencers were moving to Dubai to be willingly subjected to such acts for money. The BBC said its reporting found trafficking and coercion, rather than voluntary arrangements, in many of the cases it examined.
The investigation also examined the deaths of at least two Ugandan women linked by family or social media to people connected with Mwesigwa. Monic Karungi, 23, died in May 2022, four months after arriving in Dubai. Relatives told the BBC she had told a family member she owed Mwesigwa more than $27,000 after several weeks. Authorities in Dubai told her family there would be no further investigation after finding drugs and alcohol at the scene; the BBC said lab tests it verified found no alcohol or drugs in her blood.
Kayla Birungi, 21, also fell to her death in Dubai in 2021 in the same neighbourhood, Al Barsha, the BBC said. Families of both women said Dubai police concluded the deaths were suicides. The BBC said it interviewed relatives in Uganda and that reporter Runako Celina travelled between Uganda, Dubai and the UK to piece together the accounts.
Mwesigwa told the BBC he was “just a party person who invites big spenders on my tables hence making many girls flock to my tables.” He denied managing a trafficking network, saying he helps women find accommodation and that they follow him to parties because of his contacts. "That makes me know many girls and that’s it," he told investigators. He suggested Dubai police could provide further clarity, saying both deaths had been investigated by local authorities.
The BBC also spoke to at least one woman who said she had been trafficked to Dubai by a different network and subjected to what she described as horrifying brutality. She told investigators that clients sometimes paid extra for violent and humiliating acts and that she had attempted to seek help from police but was refused. Separate reporting cited the case of Ukrainian model Maria Kovalchuk, 20, who was reported to have been left fighting for her life after a party at a Dubai hotel and whose family said she had been treated as someone “they could torment.” The BBC did not link Kovalchuk’s case to Mwesigwa.
Anti-trafficking activists and the BBC’s reporting placed the allegations in the wider context of youth unemployment and migration from Uganda and other countries to Gulf states. The investigation said some recruiters promise placements in supermarkets, hotels or other legitimate work before migrants are diverted into prostitution. The BBC said many who travel to the Gulf do so through safe channels, but that activists repeatedly warn of exploitative networks that prey on economic vulnerability.
The BBC series and podcast, titled “Death in Dubai: #Dubaiportapotty,” was released on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds and includes interviews with survivors, relatives and former associates. The programme includes warnings that some listeners may find the material distressing and signposts support services.
Dubai police did not publicly respond to the BBC’s allegations in the recording published by the broadcaster. The families of the deceased have said they want fuller investigations; authorities told relatives the incidents were examined and closed. The BBC’s reporting, which reaches across Uganda, the UAE and the UK, presents allegations from former employees and women who say they were trafficked and coerced, while the man accused denies running a trafficking operation and Dubai authorities have said deaths were investigated and ruled suicides.
The BBC said its investigation highlights how misinformation, inequality and exploitation can intersect, reducing complex human stories to online memes. The broadcaster's reporter Runako Celina said the project aimed to restore dignity to women who had been subjected to abuse and public ridicule while attempting to seek better lives abroad.
This article is based on reporting published by the BBC and interviews conducted for the BBC World Service documentary and the World of Secrets podcast. The BBC’s programme includes details of support organisations for anyone distressed by the material.