Almost 50 victims of human trafficking are discovered in the UK each week, Government figures have shown as police continue to investigate two separate cases of people smuggling.
Figures recorded by the National Crime Agency (NCA) show that 566 potential cases of trafficking were identified by police forces, local authorities, charities and Home Office officials across the UK in the first three months of this year.
According to a NCA report the most common reason for an adult being trafficked was sexual exploitation but there were also many cases of people being transported as cheap labour or into domestic servitude.
One case of a person being trafficked for organ harvesting was also detected during that period.
Recent cases - including the death of a man and discovery of 34 other immigrants in a shipping container at Tilbury Docks, Essex, and the rescue of 15 immigrants in Somerset - have highlighted the issue of trafficking.
Last year 1,746 potential trafficking victims were found in the UK - an increase of 47% on the previous 12 months.
A Home Office spokesman said officials would not comment on the figures because of the ongoing high-profile investigations.
But Nick Alston, police and crime commissioner for Essex, said the Tilbury case had highlighted the "evil of the abuse and exploitation of vulnerable people".
He added: "We can be sure that almost all cases of human trafficking involve exploitation by callous organised criminal gangs."
Meet Singh Kapoor, 40, from Afghanistan, was found dead inside the container at Tilbury on Saturday.
Other members of the group, including 13 children, survived the ordeal. They are all Afghan Sikhs from Kabul.
In this case, the group is believed to have fled Afghanistan after suffering persecution.
They are in the process of claiming asylum in the UK after travelling to Europe in a lorry before reportedly spending 18 hours in the cargo container en route to the UK.
A 34-year-old, from Limavady, Northern Ireland, was arrested yesterday at Banbridge on the A1.
He was due to be transported to Essex to be questioned on suspicion of manslaughter and facilitating illegal entry into the UK.
A separate investigation is under way after a refrigerated lorry containing 15 people was discovered at a service station in Ilminster, near Taunton, by officers from Avon and Somerset Police working alongside immigration officials.
A German national has been arrested on suspicion of facilitating the unlawful entry of people into the UK in connection with that investigation.
The foreign nationals - who told police they were from Eritrea and Kashmir - included men, women and a 15-year-old boy.
The NCA figures covering January to March this year included 392 adults and 174 children, with the most common countries of origin being Albania, Slovakia, Nigeria and Vietnam.
This represents the equivalent of 47 possible trafficking victims each week.
Once victims are initially identified, they are assessed to establish whether they have been trafficked and why they were illegally transported.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/focus-trafficking-amid-probes-014508142.html
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