Police allege the operation was the work of an organised crime syndicate who were recruiting Romanian men, trafficking them to the UK and forcing them to work on building sites while living in appalling and cramped housing conditions in the Kingsbury area of London.

The investigation had been ongoing since 2019, with Met police working in conjunction with their Romanian counterparts and both agencies simultaneously acting to make arrests and shut down the crime group.

8 men were were arrested in London in the Harrow and Brent area for human trafficking as well as 5 men in Romania who were taken into custody.

Romanian officials found a significant amount of gold at the address they made the arrests at, as well as approximately 250,000 euros in cash.

Trafficking gang arrested and 55 builders safeguarded https://t.co/EwD9OQda1h

— Construction Enquirer (@ConstructionEnq) September 28, 2021

As reported by Construction Enquirer, Those arrested are aged between 22 and 49 years old. They have been arrested for a variety of offences, including causing another to complete forced or compulsory labour and human trafficking contrary to the modern slavery act 2015.

Detective Constable Dec Wilson, from Central Specialist Crime, said: “These arrests in the UK and abroad are the result of working closely with our partners in Romania for the past 18 months, to identify those involved in the human trafficking and labour exploitation.”

“This Eurojust Joint Investigation Team should serve as a warning to other organised crime networks that the Met is committed to working with international law enforcement to target those committing modern day slavery offences in London.”

Alarmingly, Mr Wilson said the issues was far more widespread than this single syndicate, saying “We believe there are victims of modern slavery in every borough across London and the public may encounter them every day, possibly without realising.”

The investigation is ongoing.

(H/T Construction Enquirer)