CPS warns of airport slave auctions
CPS West London Director Nazir Afzal has warned that a range of criminal activity from distraction thefts and pickpocketing to slave auctions for the sex trade is on the increase at UK airports.
CPS West London Director Nazir Afzal has warned that a range of criminal activity from distraction thefts and pickpocketing to slave auctions for the sex trade is on the increase at UK airports.
Speaking at a CPS conference in London earlier this month, Mr Afzal said: We are now seeing slave auctions being held in public places at airports where brothel keepers are bidding for women destined for prostitution.
According to reports, in one instance a slave auction took place outside a coffee shop in the arrivals hall of Gatwick airport. Authorities believe similar auctions have taken place at Heathrow, Stansted and other airports across the UK.
The auction was one of a number of airport crimes being discussed at the conference; others included the abandonment of children in baggage reclaim areas with no identity papers, distraction thefts and pick-pocketing by criminals working in teams, and burglaries by criminals who read the addresses on baggage labels and break in on the likelihood homes will be empty.