Police in the Democratic Republic of Congo have arrested 13 suspeceted sorcerers accused of using black magic to steal or shrink men's penises.
Reports of the so-called penis snatching surfaced last week in Congo's capital Kinshasa, triggering a wave of panic and attempted lynchings.
Although such accusations are not uncommon in West Africa, where belief in traditional religion and witchcraft remains widespread and ritual killings still occur, talk-back radio shows were quickly flooded with calls.
Listeners were advised to beware of fellow passengers in communal taxis wearing gold rings and some said the 'sorcery' was an attempt to extort cash with the promise of a cure.
The supposed victims, of whom 14 were also held by police, claimed the sorcerers simply touched them to make their genitals shrink or disappear.
Kinshasa's police chief, Jean-Dieudonne Oleko said police were arresting both the accused sorcerors and their victims in an effort to avoid widespread bloodshed.
"You just have to be accused of that, and people come after you. We've had a number of attempted lynchings. ... You see them covered in marks after being beaten.
Similar accusations in Ghana led to the deaths of 12 suspected penis snatchers at the hands of an angry mob a decade ago Mr Oleko said.
"I'm tempted to say it's one huge joke."
"But when you try to tell the victims that their penises are still there, they tell you that it's become tiny or that they've become impotent. To that I tell them, 'How do you know if you haven't gone home and tried it'."
