A suspected labour trafficker has been arrested in a raid by the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) and the UK Border Agency.
Officers from both organisations swooped at 6am on November 11 on a house in Brierley Hill, West Midlands.
The intelligence-led operation resulted in the arrest of a Romanian man who has been accused of arranging for foreign nationals to work for low pay in horticultural businesses in Worcestershire and placing them in filthy accommodation.
Vasile Ghiata was charged with trafficking offences under Section 4 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 2004 Trafficking and Section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006. He appeared at Halesowen Magistrates Court the next day, where he indicated a not-guilty plea and has been remanded in custody awaiting trial.
Gail Adams, UK Border Agency regional director, said: “Working closely with our police colleagues, the GLA and other agencies, we will continue to detect, detain and deport the most harmful people.”
A GLA spokesman told freshinfo: “At this stage these are still only charges that have been brought and the case has yet to go to court, but the charges are very serious indeed.”
Paul Whitehouse, chairman of the GLA added: “It is often the most vulnerable people in society who are ripped off and exploited. We protect workers and deal with the gangmasters who place profit way above any concern for the degradation and misery they can inflict.”
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