Officers have taken part in a national week-long operation aimed at tackling human trafficking with a focus on forced labour.

The week of action, named Op Hornsman, took place from Monday 30 May to Friday 3 June and was led by the National Crime Agency’s UK Human Trafficking Centre (UKHTC). The week also saw activity taking place across Europe.

Officers across Preston, South Ribble, Chorley and West Lancashire visited premises like car washes, nail bars and takeaways where labour exploitation can commonly occur, to help raise awareness that is not something confined to history, it is still happening today, and it’s happening in Lancashire
Similarly officers across Blackpool, Wyre, Fylde, Lancaster and Morecambe handed out multi-language leaflets and materials informing people of the signs of slavery or trafficking and contact information for where to seek help.

In East Lancashire, a team of officers dedicated to tackling modern slavery, called Op Proteus, carried out targeted visits to specifically identified premises including car washes and nail bars, with colleagues from local Neighbourhood Police Teams and Immigration Enforcement.

Twenty premises were visited over three days and nearly 70 foreign nationals were spoken with to ensure that they hadn’t been trafficked or were being forced to work against their will. Immigration Enforcement arrested five people for immigration offences.

Three of the arrests were made at a premises on Lower Hollin Bank Street, Blackburn where two Afghan men aged 24 and 21, and an Albanian man aged 27 were arrested for immigration offences.

The business faces a potential penalty of up to £20,000 per illegal worker found, unless the employer can demonstrate the correct right to work checks were carried out, such as seeing a passport or Home Office document confirming permission to work. This is a potential of up to £60,000.

Immigration Enforcement officers made the further two arrests in Burnley. An Afghan man aged 19 was arrested for immigration offences at a premises on Manchester Road. At a premises on Edmund Street a 25-year-old man from Pakistan was also arrested for immigration offences.

It was suspected that the businesses visited over the three days were not paying their employees minimum wage or paying tax and National Insurance in accordance with employment law. Reports have been submitted to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for further enquiries to be commenced.

DS Tony Atkins, from the Op Proteus team working to tackle modern slavery in East Lancashire, said: “This was a really successful week and has enabled us to gather a large amount of intelligence to help us to build up a picture of activity across East Lancashire.

“Despite the fact that no slavery or trafficking offences were uncovered, our activity shows our commitment to tackling this type of crime.

“Information gathered during the week will be shared with the relevant partner agencies and really highlights how positive inter departmental working and agency collaboration will enable us to combat the threat of trafficking and slavery across Lancashire.

“Across the rest of Lancashire it was a really valuable awareness raising activity and if it means that one member of the public or a potential victim is able to come forward with the confidence to report their concerns to us, then we have made an impact.”

All week messages were also shared across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with more than 450 likes, comments, shares and retweets throughout the week, with a reach of thousands across all platforms.

Remember if something doesn’t seem right or you have a suspicion about trafficking or slavery; report your concerns to us.

If you think that someone is in immediate danger call 999, if you suspect slavery is happening and there is no immediate threat to life then contact us on 101.

Lancashire Victims Services are also here to offer help and support, even if you haven’t reported a crime to the police. Contact them on 0300 323 0085.
For more information take a look at our website: http://www.lancashire.police.uk/help...n-slavery.aspx