Twenty eight children have been safeguarded as part of a major operation carried out by the Metropolitan Police in east London this morning, Tuesday 12 October).
The operation's primary aim was to safeguard potential victims of a Romanian-based Roma gang of child traffickers. There were 103 children and 52 adults present in the 16 addresses in Ilford entered by officers under Operation Norman.
So far, 28 children aged between 3 and 17 have been taken into police protection. Six of the 28 were found at one address alone - and one of the six - a three-year-old boy - was taken immediately to hospital to investigate bruising and facial injuries.
At this same address, three adults were arrested on suspicion of assault and neglect of a child, and are currently being interviewed. Four further adults have been arrested - two for being wanted on warrant and two on suspicion of benefit fraud.
The safeguarded children - all from the Romanian Roma community - will now be assessed by multi-agency experts in child protection. The assessment process examines the welfare of each child and will seek to identify if the child was subject to exploitation and/or neglect. The circumstances in which each child was found will be examined on a case by case basis with the children being at the centre of this investigation.
Operation Norman was led by the MPS' Operation Golf unit, together with specialist Met child protection and search officers. It was supported by Redbridge Council social workers and health care workers from NHS Redbridge, as well as Europol staff, and is the largest to date in a series carried out by Operation Golf aimed at safeguarding children in London identified as being potential trafficking victims.
The unit has also been advising forces around the country wher intelligence indicates that further child trafficking victims may be living within their jurisdictions.
Chief Inspector Colin Carswell, of Operation Golf, said: "The aim of today's operation was to safeguard and identify victims, safeguard and identify any 'new' victims not previously identified, secure evidence, arrest suspects, and minimise any community impact that might occur.
"The trafficking and exploitation of children for forced criminality is a gross violation of their human rights. Our primary purpose, in tandem with our expert colleagues from the Specialist Crime Directorate, local authority and health trust, is to ensure these vulnerable children get any professional help they may require to remain safe and free from abuse.
"These children are exploited by gangs and in some cases their own parents. Many parents are told by the gang they can earn money if they give up their child to be taken aboard. The gangs loan them money to pay for the trafficking. This is at an extremely high interest rate, and it can take many years to pay off gangs, with increasing numbers of the children and even entire families becoming entrapped as debt slaves. Often the families are forced to move across the UK and Europe and into controlling fresh victims."
Superintendent Bernie Gravett, of Operation Golf, said: "The most visible aspects of the profits being sent back to Romania are the building of large houses, the purchase of expensive vehicles and the possession of large amounts of disposable cash.
In April this year we assisted the Romanian authorities to arrest twenty-six individuals from the organised criminal network from Tandarei, south east Romania. They are currently facing charges in Romania for trafficking and criminal exploitation of 181 named children, being members of an organised criminal network and money laundering."
Kit Malthouse Deputy Mayor for Policing, added: "It is impossible to imagine British children being sent overseas and forced into criminality to survive, but this is a sad reality for the young Romanian kids in our city who are controlled by ruthless gangs. With Operation Golf we are sending the message out loud and clear that child trafficking is utterly unacceptable and must stop.
"We will do everything in our power to end the exploitation of children and vulnerable families. The heads of the criminal networks in Tandarei should be warned that we are closing in on them. With successful partnership between Met and the Romanian national police, these gangs will soon have nowhere left to hide."
Operation Golf is a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) between the MPS and the Romanian National Police (RNP) tackling a specific Romanian Roma organised Crime Network (OCN) that are trafficking and exploiting children from the Romanian Roma community, one of the poorest and most disadvantaged communities in Europe. It is supported by Europol, Eurojust, the UK Crown Prosecution Service and the Romanian Prosecutors Office (DIICOT). The JIT is currently 70% funded by a grant from the European Commission and the remainder by the Met Police.
To date, the UK investigation by Operation Golf has led to the arrest of 126 individuals. The offences include: trafficking human beings into the UK, trafficking human beings internally in the UK, money laundering, benefit fraud, child neglect, perverting the course of justice, theft & handling stolen goods and court cases are ongoing.
“We will do everything in our power to end the exploitation of children and vulnerable families. The heads of the criminal networks in Tandarei should be warned that we are closing in on them. With successful partnership between Met and the Romanian national police, these gangs will soon have nowhere left to hide."
Operation Golf is a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) between the MPS and the Romanian National Police (RNP) tackling a specific Romanian Roma organised Crime Network (OCN) that are trafficking and exploiting children from the Romanian Roma community, one of the poorest and most disadvantaged communities in Europe. It is supported by Europol, Eurojust, the UK Crown Prosecution Service and the Romanian Prosecutors Office (DIICOT). The JIT is currently 70% funded by a grant from the European Commission and the remainder by the Met Police.
To date, the UK investigation by Operation Golf has led to the arrest of 126 individuals. The offences include: trafficking human beings into the UK, trafficking human beings internally in the UK, money laundering, benefit fraud, child neglect, perverting the course of justice, theft & handling stolen goods and court cases are ongoing.
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