UK slavery shame

Britain’s FBI probing 300 gangs blighting every town and city

HUMAN trafficking gangs are now operating in every large town and city across Britain, making around £600 a day from each victim.

The vast scale of modern slavery in the UK was laid bare yesterday as it emerged that police were running 300 investigations into criminal networks forcing tens of thousands into prostitution and forced labour.

Since 2013, reports of trafficking victims have been increasing by 30 per cent every year. But officials at the National Crime Agency (NCA) said they were ‘shocked’ to discover the huge number of gangs from countries such as Romania, Lithuania and Albania who operate across Britain.

Investigators revealed that criminals were increasingly grooming young British girls for sex abuse before they are transported around the country. In other instances, British youngsters from inner cities are being forced to deal Class A drugs. Thousands of victims from Romania, Vietnam and Nigeria are also being brought here and sold for sex or forced to work for less than £5 a day.

Will Kerr, director of vulnerabilities at the NCA, said gangs were making millions of pounds every year, as a single sex worker could earn them £600 a day.

Many of the foreign victims are captured after responding to adverts online posted by gangs offering jobs and housing here.

But on arrival they are told they have to pay back journey costs and are forced into prostitution.

Children are also being targeted and in one recent case, border officials rescued a 12-year-old Roma gypsy girl who had been sold by her father to be a slave for a family in Britain.

Mr Kerr said investigators were now encountering generations of victims being enslaved by gangs as children are born into slavery.

He said: ‘Someone who started out as a child victim in England has ended up as an adult victim in Scotland. We have been shocked by the extent of trafficking in the UK and we are very worried about it.’

In a crackdown led by the NCA in May and June, 133 suspects were arrested in the UK and 130 victims were rescued.

Yesterday, just hours after the figures were revealed, two women and a man were arrested in Cheshire as part of a probe into slavery and money laundering.

Earlier this year, the NCA, often described as Britain’s FBI, released figures showing the number of suspected victims had more than doubled in three years.

There were 3,805 people reported as potential victims in 2016, an increase from 1,745 in 2013. The Modern Slavery Helpline, which launched in 2016, has also made 1,051 referrals helping more than 2,000 potential victims.

Mr Kerr said: ‘There is a significant amount of money to be made through human trafficking and a growing number of crime gangs have realised that you can repeatedly exploit vulnerable people on a regular basis. They make £600 a day for a female exploited through prostitution.’

Mr Kerr said anyone with concerns should contact the Modern Slavery Helpline.

‘Making £600 a day from each prostitute’