The world police organization Interpol arrested 2,517 people during the biggest operation against people smugglers in its history. Roughly a third of them are suspected of human trafficking and human smuggling. Over 3,200 potential victims have been saved by Interpol, he said in a press release today.
Among those rescued are minors forced to work on farms in Argentina, migrants in clubs in North Macedonia, beggars in Iraq or maids in the Middle East or Ethiopia. Many people have been coerced into involving their friends and families in pyramid schemes under the threat of violence. In Syria, Interpol uncovered a group of doctors who were believed to be trafficking in human organs. In Costa Rica, he arrested the leader of a sect that enslaved and tortured members and their children.
Operation Liberterra II began on September 29 and ended on October 4. Police officers monitored strategic border crossings, locations used by smugglers or almost 24,000 flights. The action was coordinated by police officers from operational centers in Argentina, Senegal, the Philippines and North Macedonia.
According to Interpol, the crackdown on fraudulent online centers that used people to create other frauds was also significant. In the Philippines, police raided a warehouse where more than 250 people, mostly Chinese nationals, were running romance scams on an industrial scale. During interrogations, crime investigators now separate the victims from the members of the criminal organization.
“In their relentless pursuit of profit, organized crime groups continue to exploit men, women and children – often multiple times over. While the results of this operation are still preliminary, they highlight the enormity of the challenges facing law enforcement and prove that these threats can only be met coordinated procedure,” said Interpol Secretary General Jürgen Stock.
Source: www.tyden.cz
