Foreign workers rescued in human-trafficking raids

One of the largest “labour human-trafficking” investigations in Ontario has resulted in the rescue of more than 40 foreign workers who were allegedly being “paid peanuts” and living in squalor.

The workers — predominantly from Mexico on visitor visas and who were working as cleaners at hotels and resorts in Simcoe County — were removed from their residences and many are now being sheltered in a local hotel.

“They were exhausted, but relieved to be out of the situation,” said a hotel operator, who had employed some of the workers through a temp agency, and who on Thursday freed up some of his rooms to host the rescued workers.

In pre-dawn raids Tuesday, more than 100 officers from Barrie Police, Canada Border Services Agency and the Ontario Provincial Police targeted six locations in Barrie and Wasaga Beach, and transported the rescued men and women to a church, where they were interviewed and provided with food and clothing.

“It’s a huge joint operation among the law-enforcement agencies,” a source familiar to the investigation told the Star. “The workers were paid peanuts after all the deductions for food, rent and mattresses,” said the law-enforcement source, who called the situation “exploitative.”

In a statement, Barrie Police said public safety was not in jeopardy.

“We are still doing a lot of behind-the-scenes work and anything specific to the investigation has to wait until a news conference (expected in the coming days.) Persons of interests have been identified and the investigation remains ongoing,” said Peter Leon, a spokesperson for Barrie Police.

According to the law-enforcement source, allegations of a labour human-trafficking operation first surfaced in 2015, when complaints by former workers began trickling in. An in-depth investigation ensued at the beginning of last summer after authorities received further leads, the source said.

According to authorities, the workers were regularly picked up from their residences and transported to various job sites throughout Simcoe County aboard yellow school buses.

After Tuesday’s rescue, including from a house on Dunlop Street East, in Barrie, the men and women were taken to a temporary victims’ assistance centre set up at a local church, where they were tended to by Salvation Army workers.

On Thursday, after spending two days at government shelters, most of the workers were chauffeured in VIP vans and moved into the local hotel.

“We had a breakfast gathering here this morning and our volunteers gave them a warm welcome,” said the hotel owner, who asked not to be identified so as not to reveal the location of the workers.

“We decided to pick them up in VIP vans so they wouldn’t be paranoid about getting into a school bus again,” the hotel owner said. “We called the van services and they offered to transport them at no cost.”

Although many of the workers had overstayed their visas, they will be issued temporary residence permits.

“They were relieved to be out of that situation, but they didn’t think of themselves as victimized,” said the source. “They were (allegedly) taken advantage of by the traffickers, but said things are still better here because everything is so bad at home.”

Barrie Police said no arrests have been made.