Four more arrested by cops in sex trafficking op
FOUR men have been arrested in connection with a trafficking ring which allegedly sold women and teenagers for up to £10,000.
Officers from Police Scotland’s dedicated trafficking squad helped to arrest the men, aged 40, 30, 26 and 23-years-old, during a joint operation in Trebisov, Slovakia, on Monday.
It is the second part of Operation Synapsis, which saw five people - three men and two women- arrested in Govanhill last week.
They appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court earlier this week.
Each made no plea or declaration at Glasgow Sheriff Court and were remanded in custody.
As reported exclusively by the Evening Times, the group are alleged to have been involved in the trafficking of vulnerable women from Slovakia.
The suspected victims, in their late teens and early 20s, were said to be forced into prostitution or sold to Pakistani men who wanted to obtain EU citizenship, for between £3000 and £10,000.
A total of 16 potential victims have so far been identified and supported by Glasgow’s Trafficking Awareness Raising Alliance (TARA), Police Scotland and social services staff.
Earlier this week, Police Scotland officers travelled to Slovakia to work with local teams in the second part of the operation.
Support was also provided by Europol – Europe’s police authority – to execute four search warrants and apprehend four men, thought to be connected to the trafficking ring.
They are being held in Slovakia and were expected to appear in court yesterday.
According to Europol, the group’s main aim “was to recruit vulnerable women from challenging socio-economic backgrounds by deception, promising them attractive and wellpaid jobs abroad, and then forcing them into sham marriages and prostitution.”
Along with the arrests, a “signifi- cant” amount of evidence - travel documents, computers, mobile phones and cash - was seized and will now be investigated.
Detective Inspector Steven McMillan, said: “Following the day of action in Glasgow last week where five people were arrested for human trafficking offences, officers from Police Scotland and the Slovakian police, supported by Europol, have this week detained and arrested a number of further individuals allegedly connected to the same crime group responsible for trafficking females from Slovakia to the UK.
“This forms part of what is still very much a live and ongoing inquiry and we will continue to work with other law enforcement agencies, both in the UK and across Europe, to ensure anyone else who has been involved in this crime will be brought to justice.
“This is a significant development to ensure the individuals involved in this crime group cannot inflict the same misery and suffering upon other vulnerable victims.”