More than 60 men and women from eastern Europe were removed from leek harvesting in Lincolnshire this week, in what is thought to be the UK’s biggest-ever operation against human trafficking for labour exploitation.
They had been employed by a firm called A14, which supplied labour to Emmett UK in Spalding, which in turn supplies veg to Tesco and Waitrose.
Emmett said that it was not implicated in the police investigation and that it had twice audited A14. Emmett added that the company had also been audited by the Gangmaster's Licensing Authority (GLA) in October 2008.
Three men were arrested on suspicion of human trafficking for the purposes of labour exploitation after intervention from authorities at a field near Holbeach in Lincolnshire. The migrant workers, from countries including Poland and Lithuania, were taken back to Kettering, where they are being treated as potential witnesses and victims.
A further four men and one woman were also arrested on Tuesday morning after raids on 21 houses in Kettering and the wider Midlands area, as well as business premises in Market Harborough. They have been taken into custody at Kettering and Wellingborough on suspicion of people trafficking and money laundering.
More than 200 staff from nine organisations, including the GLA, the East Midlands Foreign National Crime Team, the UK Human Trafficking Centre, the UK Borders Agency and Serious Organised Crime Agency were involved in Operation Ruby, which was co-ordinated by Northamptonshire Police.
Search warrants involving Northamptonshire Police, Kettering Borough Council and Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service were used at premises in Kettering, where it is believed that the migrant workers were living in conditions that were overcrowded and potentially unsafe.
Operation Ruby investigated allegations that workers were recruited through advertisements and agencies in eastern Europe on the promise of work. It is believed that documents were taken from them upon arrival and a chunk of their wages was held back for housing and transport costs.
Detective Superintendent Glyn Timmins, director of investigations at Northamptonshire Police and part of the force’s new Protective Services Command, co-ordinated the enforcement operation. He said: “The fact that so many organisations have come together to act in this way is a demonstration of how seriously we take our responsibility to support people who have been exploited in this way and to disrupt this unacceptable activity.”
GLA chairman Paul Whitehouse added: “The action taken today shows that no gangmaster can get away with this abuse. The GLA and our colleagues in other agencies are watching and will deal with the unscrupulous individuals that use their control over the lives of their workers to cause misery.”
No comments yet