CANNABIS FARMERS ARE ASKED: ARE YOU SLAVES?

SUSPECTED cannabis farmers may be given a ‘getout-of-jail card’ when police ask them if they are slaves.

Figures show there has been a huge surge in suspected forced labour used to feed the nation’s £1billion cannabis habit.

But anti-drugs campaigners are concerned crime lords could deliberately mislead well- meaning police to get off the hook.

One said that asking ‘anyone here a slave?’ was an open invitation for criminals looking for lenient treatment.

The fact police ask the question emerged during a series of raids by more than 50 officers on cannabis farms in and around Gloucester earlier this week.

They seized drugs worth more than £750,000 in the culmination of an eightmonth undercover inquiry.

Investigators, who arrested ten men, suspect the network was overseen by Albanian drug gangs responsible for trafficking victims into the UK.

Inspector Jason Keates, who led the operation, warned colleagues to be alert for signs those involved are slaves.

‘Are they in clothing that doesn’t look appropriate? Are they anxious? Does it appear the things they are saying are scripted? These are signals,’ he said.

‘Anyone found in the cannabis factories will be arrested. In custody they will be given the opportunity to claim they are victims of modern- day slavery.’

But David Raynes, of the National Drug Prevention Alliance, said police must protect victims without helping criminals.

‘It is perfectly proper for police to ask about slavery – but perhaps they could be more circumspect,’ he added. ‘ They might want to establish where people are from, how they arrived in the UK and if someone else paid for them.

‘Of course, if they are well briefed they will answer as you might expect.

‘To a certain extent it could be seen as a get-outof-jail card. But it is also sensible for law enforcement to want to know who they are dealing with.’