Tuesday 15 November 2022 08:38 PM Albanian criminals are committing 'blatant manipulation' of UK's modern slavery ... trends now
Albanian criminals are committing ‘blatant manipulation’ of the UK’s modern slavery laws, senior officials from ‘Britain’s FBI’ warned today.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) said Albanian organised crime groups are bringing workers into Britain by small boat to work in the drugs trade, such as cannabis farms known as ‘grows’.
In some cases, Albanians have been ‘coached’ how to exploit modern slavery laws if they are arrested, the agency said.
Police forces have even seen template-style standard letters which make almost identical claims about alleged modern slavery abuse.
The agency’s comments reveal the full scale of exploitation of the government’s ‘National Referral Mechanism’ for modern slavery claims.
Lodging a claim usually means police investigations must be brought to a halt – and sees the claimant treated as a victim rather than a perpetrator.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) said Albanian organised crime groups are bringing workers into Britain by small boat to work in the drugs trade
‘The Albanian criminal community will manipulate the National Referral Mechanism in a fairly extensive fashion,’ said NCA intelligence manager Steve Brocklesby.
‘We know how – anecdotally, speaking to police forces around the country – that if an Albanian illegal migrant is arrested in a cannabis “grow” then often the first thing they'll do is claim to a victim of trafficking.
‘That is very different to most other users of the National Referral Mechanism.
‘In many ways it’s blatant manipulation and is something we believe is instilled in them before they actually arrive in the UK.’
Mr Brocklesby said ‘standard letters’ are submitted by people who claim to have been trafficked.
‘We hear lots of stories [from police forces] about how the letters might be the same or the individuals concerned are putting up stories that with a little bit of detective work are being disproved.’
Albanian law enforcement agencies
