Police have identified 10 potential victims of modern slavery after a series of early-morning raids in Derby.
Three men and three women were arrested on suspicion of human trafficking offences by Derbyshire police. The potential victims, who police believe came to the UK from Latvia, are being supported by partner agencies.
Officers suspect that the trafficked men were working for very little pay and did not have access to bank accounts set up in their names.
DCI Rick Alton said: “We have been working very closely with Latvian authorities on this case and we’re grateful for their support.”
The police said warrants were executed at three addresses in Derby, leading to the arrests of three men, aged 32, 41 and 53, and three women, aged 31, 35 and 54.
The raids came on the same day as the Metropolitan police commissioner, Cressida Dick, spoke about the prevalence of slavery in London.
Writing in the Evening Standard, Dick said: “There are criminals here – often organised gangs – who simply own people. They are not exploiting people; they are stealing lives and generating money for themselves.
“Our officers have found victims in the most awful circumstances – from sexual exploitation to forced domestic labour. They have freed victims working against their will in businesses you may pass on the high street.”
Three years ago the Met set up the largest modern slavery and kidnap team in the UK, with 80 officers working to bring perpetrators to justice.
“Earlier this year a man and a woman were sentenced to 14 years in prison under the Modern Slavery Act for their parts in operating brothels,” Dick wrote. “We have also secured charges under the act against a gang trafficking children to carry drugs.”
Witnesses to Tuesday’s raid in Derby spoke of the shock of discovering a crime was being committed near their doorstep. One local woman told the Derby Telegraph: “I heard police shouting at about 3am. To be honest it is a surprise to me. I didn’t think that kind activity was happening. They seemed to be a large family and would always come in and out of the home. I’m a single mother and it’s quite scary to think this is happening.”
A second woman added: “It’s shocking to know that this is happening on your own doorstep. It’s a sorry sight. It doesn’t worry me because I keep myself to myself but it just shows you never know who’s living next to you.”
The National Crime Agency has said modern slavery and human trafficking are far more common than law enforcement previously thought, with potentially tens of thousands of victims in the UK.
Will Kerr, the NCA’s director of vulnerabilities, said the figures were far higher than those identified by the system set up by the government to identify victims of trafficking, which stood at about 3,800 in 2016.
As recently as last week, a British woman suspected of being a ringleader of a criminal network involved in trafficking young women from Nigeria to Europe for sexual exploitation was charged with modern slavery offences.
