Operation Absent closes in on gangmasters
Police arrested several gangmasters yesterday in a UK-wide crackdown on “modern day slavery.”
Forty people were arrested during Operation Absent, including a Ukrainian believed to be one of the top ringleaders in the UK.
Head of the probe into the exploitation of immigrants, detective inspector Paul Cunningham of Norfolk police, said police were working tirelessly to end the “abuse” of illegal workers.
“These people are modern-day slaves, working 15-hour days, living in overcrowded, unsuitable conditions and paid a pittance for their trouble whilst their gangmasters live in luxury and launder the profits,” he said.
“This is the 21st century slave trade.”
Officers from Aberdeen, Cambridgeshire, Essex, London, Norfolk, and the Immigration Service took part in the dawn raids.
Thirty-eight people were detained in Scotland and two in Norfolk. In Aberdeen 28 men and ten women, mostly of eastern European origin, were taken into custody.
The raid is all the more timely as it comes after the Morecambe Bay tragedy seven weeks ago when 20 Chinese cockle pickers drowned in the treacherous bay after becoming cut off by the incoming tide.
Six of the 38 people arrested yesterday were held on suspicion of aiding the entry of illegal immigrants into the UK and on money laundering charges.
Jack Dromey, T&G deputy general secretary, said: “The police have done a tremendous job in targeting these particular operations. Exploited workers will be protected as a result and the police were right to brand these workers ‘modern day slaves’. I would not be surprised if more cases are unearthed over the coming months.”
