Illegal Norfolk, Suffolk gangmasters targeted

A warrant was executed in Great Yarmouth, which resulted in the arrest of three men and a woman. The men, aged 29, 32 and 33 years old and all from the town were arrested on suspicion of trafficking and unlicensed supply of workers.

A 22-year-old woman, also from Great Yarmouth, was arrested on suspicion of money laundering.

All four were taken to the Great Yarmouth Police Investigation Centre.

Trafficking​

In Suffolk, police arrested a 29-year-old man from Bury St Edmunds and a 37-year-old woman from Ipswich also on suspicion of trafficking and supplying unlicensed workers.

Both were taken to the Bury St Edmunds Police Investigation Centre.

The arrests were made as part of a joint operation between Norfolk Police, Suffolk Police and the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA).

Officers were investigating people trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation in the vegetable processing industry, the GLA said.

‘Something amiss’​

In relation to the Norfolk arrests, the GLA spokesman said it had begun to suspect “that there was something amiss” ​about five months ago.

Those suspected of trafficking are believed to have sourced at least four workers, who had all been working at the same place, but the GLA would not name the establishment. “It’s quite often the case that the end user has no idea that this is going on,” ​said the spokesman.

Authorities are expected to make a decision on prosecutions at the end of May.

The GLA licenses companies that supply labour (gangmasters) to agriculture, horticulture, food processing and packaging and shellfish gathering. Its main strategic priorities are to prevent worker exploitation, protect vulnerable people and tackle unlicensed and criminal activity.

Under the Gangmasters Licensing Act (2004) it is illegal both to operate as, or employ the services of, an unlicensed gangmaster.