Six arrested in latest trafficking operation

Six people have been arrested as part of a joint operation between Norfolk Police, Suffolk Police and the Gangmasters Licensing Authority.

The arrests were made yesterday (Wednesday 2 April) by officers investigating people trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation in the vegetable processing industry.

A warrant was executed in Great Yarmouth which resulted in the arrest of three men and a woman. The men, aged 29, 32 and 33 years old and all from the town were arrested on suspicion of trafficking and unlicensed supply of workers.

A 22-year-old woman also from Great Yarmouth was arrested on suspicion of money laundering.

All four were taken to the Great Yarmouth Police Investigation Centre.

In Suffolk police arrested a 29-year-old man from Bury St Edmunds and a 37-year-old woman from Ipswich also on suspicion of trafficking and the supplying workers without the necessary licence. Both were taken to the Bury St Edmunds Police Investigation Centre.

If anyone suspects someone of being involved in people trafficking they are asked to contact their local police force immediately.

ENDS

Press release issued by GLA Communications and Information Officer Paul Fearn. For more information contact 0115 959 7069 or email communications@gla.gsi.gov.uk.

Notes to editors

1. The GLA operates throughout the UK and is a Non Departmental Public Body.

2. The authority was formed in 2005 in the wake of the Morecambe Bay cockle picking disaster when 23 Chinese workers drowned on the sands.

3. The GLA licences companies that supply labour (gangmasters) to agriculture, horticulture, food processing and packaging and shellfish gathering.

4. Its main strategic priorities are to prevent worker exploitation, protect vulnerable people and tackle unlicensed and criminal activity.

5. Under the Gangmasters Licensing Act (2004) it is illegal both to operate as, or employ the services of, an unlicensed gangmaster.

www.gla.defra.gov.uk