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Norwich brothel raided as part of major prostitution crackdown |
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Crimewatch
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Published by EDP24
22nd July 2010
Seven people have been arrested as part of a police crackdown on organised people trafficking and prostitution. Police have raided premises across East Anglia, including a brothel in Norwich, as part of the operation which has been co-ordinated by the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (Soca).
In Ipswich, officers raided a working brothel where three Eastern European women were discovered, believed to be involved in the sex trade.
Police swooped at about 3pm yesterday on premises in London Road, the same street on which Steve Wright, convicted of the murder of five sex workers in 2006, lived.
Two of the seven people arrested were in relation to the raid in Ipswich. The people arrested, in connection with a series of people trafficking and prostitution offences, are currently being held at police stations in Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds, Norwich and Chelmsford.
Warrants were executed at five premises in Ipswich, Norwich, Harwich, Swindon and Tedburn St Mary in Devon.
Five victims were located following the searches, three in relation to the Ipswich raid, and they are currently being talked to by trained staff and have been given “the best possible care”.
Det Insp Bernie Morgan and his team from the Soca led the operation, codenamed Oakland, which has since February gathered intelligence on a criminal people-trafficking cell operating from Ipswich.
Det Insp Morgan said: “By executing search warrants we intend to identify the victims who are forced or coerced into doing something against their will. They will be afforded the best care by a vulnerable persons team which accompanies us on every warrant of this kind.
“Any such premises will be closed down and the operation will continue identifying links with organised crime.”
Since April, police have been given the power to arrest those who solicit sex at organised brothels, but no customers were found at the London Road address yesterday.
Janet Humphrey, who gave evidence as a police officer at the trial that convicted Steve Wright, was one of the first people inside the two-bedroom flat as a member of the Licensing and Sexual Exploitation Reduction (Laser) team.
“Off-street prostitution is all about money. It can be more difficult than street prostitution because it is behind closed doors and the women can often be subjected to assaults,” she said.
“No one wants to sell their bodies five or six times a day to different men. What happens to these women is grotesque.”
Warrants were also executed at premises in Harwich, Swindon, Exeter and Newquay in an operation that also involved police from Essex, Wiltshire and Devon and Cornwall forces.
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Crimewatch 
