SCOURGE OF THE SLAVE TRADE
Her team smashes their luxury lifestyle
THEY enjoyed a luxury lifestyle of flash cars, foreign holidays and expensive jewellery while their terrified victims lived off scraps of food in overcrowded houses.
Now, seven gang members who turned slavery into a “family business” have been jailed for a total of 20 years.
The Rafael family targeted homeless people in Slovakia and the Czech republic, luring them to Britain with promises of accommodation and work.
But when they arrived the victims were trapped in a house in the West End of Newcastle, and forced to work long hours for as little as £10 a week.
Now, the lead officer on the case has revealed how a single report of concern for a vulnerable woman led Northumbria Police to uncover a widespread trafficking operation spanning seven years.
Detective Inspector Sally MacDonald described the murky world of the Rafael family as “exploitation at its worst”.
When officers were called to Farndale Road in Fenham last year after a report of a vulnerable woman, they immediately noticed signs of modern-day slavery.
DI MacDonald said: “There was overcrowding in the house and rooms with multiple people sharing them.
“At that time, a number of individuals were safeguarded from that address and some arrests were made.”
Officers launched an investigation into the Rafael family, in which 18 warrants were executed and 16 potential victims were taken to reception centres for safeguarding.
They discovered the operation was headed up by brothers Roman and Marian Rafael, who were members of “a well-established Slovakian organised crime group”.
DI MacDonald said: “This was a family business and each individual had different roles in that enterprise.”
Also sentenced for their part in the operation were Roman and Rafael’s mother Ruzena Rafael Snr, their partners Angelica Chec and Ruzena Rafael, and their cousin Juraj Rafael.
DI MacDonald said: “The brothers or their associates would target vulnerable individuals in Slovakian towns or the Czech republic – people who were homeless, unemployed, had learning disabilities.
“They would approach them, offering them food, accommodation, the prospect of work in the UK.”
The victims would be brought to Newcastle, where they would be kept in “appalling conditions” while the Rafael family lived in luxury.
Phones seized from properties showed evidence of a lavish lifestyle, with photos of the family on holiday and wearing expensive jewellery.
Police even found a picture simply showing a suitcase full of cash.
They also recovered numerous bank cards in different names, discovering that the victims did not have control over their own accounts, while months of airport CCTV footage showed how they were brought into the country.
DI MacDonald said: “When the victims first came here they would be taken to get a National Insurance number, to open a bank account. They would be forced to work and
their wages put into a bank account, where members of the Rafael family would withdraw them. They would give their victims only a tiny fraction, sometimes only £10-20 a week.
“They would also take out loans in their names, claim benefits in their names, so each individual victim was generating thousands for the Rafael family members which they spent on a luxury lifestyle.”
Two victims who arrived in Newcastle in March 2017 were told not to leave the house and they would be arrested if seen by police. Others were physically threatened when they attempted to leave.
A father and son were given one meal and were told it would need to last them a whole week. Another victim was sent back to Slovakia after a year of forced labour with no money or possessions other than his clothes. Another was paid £10 a day for 12-hour shifts unloading tyres.
DI MacDonald said: “They were kept in conditions that were overcrowded, cramped and very basic. Some victims even described being locked in the cellar.
“The victims were very much controlled by fear of violence and intimidation. They weren’t chained or bound but in reality in a foreign country they didn’t know where they were, they had no money and were quite helpless.”
DI MacDonald has now praised the eight victims whose evidence helped put the family behind bars. She said: “We couldn’t have got the convictions without the bravery of the victims involved, and their courage in telling their story of suffering and exploitation.
“I think all cases of trafficking are very disturbing but this one in particular, because of the number of victims involved and the sophistication of the organisation.
“I’m very pleased we’ve safeguarded the victims and the family won’t be in a position to continue with their horrendous offending.”