Thirteen people arrested for trafficking

Thirteen people across Greater Manchester have been arrested for their part in a trafficking ring which tricked a pregnant woman into visiting the UK before 'selling' her into a sham marriage.

Yesterday morning, Wednesday 12 November 2014, GMP officers, alongside partner agency teams from the Home Office- executed warrants at a number of addresses in Rochdale, Failsworth and Cheetham Hill.

As a result of those warrants, ten men and three women aged between 24 and 57 were arrested for a number of offences including trafficking people for exploitation, conspiracy to facilitate breach of immigration law, conspiracy to assist the unlawful immigration into a member state - whilst three people were arrested for being overstayers in the UK.

In May 2014 the 20-year-old victim, who was 25 weeks pregnant, flew to Luton believing that she was going to visit her sister, who was already living in England.

Upon her arrival she was met by a man who told her that he was a friend of her sisters, and who took her to an address in Failsworth.

It soon became apparent, however, that the victim was never meant to meet her sister and instead that she had been tricked into the country with the purpose of marrying an unknown man.

This man had paid the gang between £10,000 and £15,000 to provide the pregnant victim for a sham marriage, with the ultimate aim of improving his chances of avoiding deportation from the UK.

In July, the pair married under Sharia law in Rochdale, before moving into an address together on Ashfield Road.

The alarm was only raised when the victim attended a hospital appointment with another woman, who acted as an interpreter and told staff that the victim wanted an abortion.

However, once the victim was spoken to on her own by an independent interpreter, it became clear that the idea of having an abortion appalled her and that she was being sold into a marriage against her will.

The victim was then taken into care and an investigation into the trafficking gang begun.

Detective Inspector James Faulkner said: "This is a superb result following a long and complex investigation by GMP officers and our partner organisations.

"This woman was brought to Manchester with the sole purpose of being married to a man who hoped to boost his immigration status.

"She was completely unaware of this group's nefarious motives and by the time she realised what was going on, it was too late.

"We believe this case is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the trafficking of women for sham marriages, with as many as 400 cases currently going on in Manchester right now.

"That is 400 women who were brought to this country on a false premise and trapped in relationships with men they do not know, 400 women enslaved by gangs only out to make money from their predicament.

"On top of that, Home Office statistics place a cost of £40,000 on the UK economy for each sham marriage.

"That is a potential cost of £16,000,000 to the city of Manchester in benefits, police and council resources and other costs, a gigantic sum especially when you consider the budget cuts affecting every single household in Greater Manchester at the moment.

"Modern slavery comes in many forms and this case is just one example of the reasons why vulnerable men and women are trafficked into this country.

"This investigation and subsequent arrests show that GMP and our key partners are committed to destroying modern slavery in Greater Manchester, by way of supporting victims, detecting and bringing offenders to justice or providing training to those who may be exposed to the crime as a third party."