{"id":2308,"date":"2019-01-23T08:55:24","date_gmt":"2019-01-23T08:55:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cita.co.uk\/news\/?p=2308"},"modified":"2019-01-23T08:55:24","modified_gmt":"2019-01-23T08:55:24","slug":"police-swoop-on-romanian-site-slave-labour-gang","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cita.co.uk\/news\/police-swoop-on-romanian-site-slave-labour-gang\/","title":{"rendered":"Police swoop on Romanian site slave labour gang"},"content":{"rendered":"

A 49-year-old man was arrested yesterday on suspicion of construction modern slavery offences as part of a National Crime Agency investigation.<\/p>\n

Officers raided a property in Edgware, London supported by colleagues from the Gangmasters\u00a0and Labour Abuse Authority and Metropolitan Police.<\/p>\n

The 49-year-old, a Romanian national, was detained at the scene and is now being questioned by investigators.<\/p>\n

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Eleven people, all Romanian males who were living at the property, were treated as potential victims of modern slavery and will now be offered support.<\/p>\n

NCA senior investigating officer Ian Truby said: \u201cToday\u2019s operation is the culmination of an investigation into a Romanian organised crime group suspected of involvement in trafficking and labour exploitation in the construction industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is alleged that victims were forced to live in appalling conditions under the control of the group through a form of debt bondage, which meant they received very little money for work they did.<\/p>\n

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\u201cFollowing today\u2019s operation a number of items including phones and documents were recovered, they will now be examined and our investigation will continue.\u201d<\/p>\n

GLAA Director of Operations Ian Waterfield said: \u201cOur number one priority is to protect vulnerable people from exploitation and we will continue working with our law enforcement colleagues to do all we can to eradicate modern slavery.<\/p>\n

\u201cThousands of people are being exploited for their labour across the country, so I would appeal to the public to report anything suspicions.<\/p>\n

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“Ourselves and our colleagues can then take swift and decisive action such as with today\u2019s operation.\u201d<\/p>\n