INTERPOL operation rescues 3,200 Human trafficking victims

INTERPOL has revealed the preliminary results of its largest-ever coordinated operation against human trafficking and migrant smuggling, Operation Liberterra II, which spanned 116 countries.

This unprecedented effort, conducted from 29 September to 4 October, led to the rescue of 3,222 potential trafficking victims and the identification of 17,793 irregular migrants.

In the UK, the National Crime Agency (NCA) played a critical role, arresting nine individuals as part of the operation. The NCA’s Joint International Crime Centre (JICC) National Extradition Unit conducted arrests across Lancashire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, Kent, and Northern Ireland. Among those detained was a 32-year-old Syrian man in Nottingham, wanted by Romanian authorities for transporting migrants from Bulgaria to Romania, with onward plans for travel to the Netherlands.

INTERPOL’s Manchester-based National Central Bureau, managed by the NCA, contributed by identifying three suspects linked to an attempted smuggling incident in Tunisia, where authorities intercepted 27 people, including 21 children, on their way to the UK. According to NCA Deputy Director of International Rick Jones, “This INTERPOL operation is a prime example of our commitment to working closely and effectively with international partners to tackle people smuggling and human trafficking. Nine individuals wanted in connection to serious offences have been removed from our communities, and extradition proceedings are ongoing to ensure they face justice.”

Operation Liberterra II saw authorities worldwide conduct police raids, monitor nearly 24,000 flights, and carry out almost 8 million database checks against INTERPOL’s records. The operation led to 2,517 arrests globally, with 850 directly related to human trafficking and migrant smuggling.

INTERPOL Secretary General Jürgen Stock acknowledged the vast scope of the challenge, stating, “In their relentless pursuit of profit, organized crime groups continue to exploit men, women, and children – often multiple times over. While still preliminary, the results of this operation highlight the vast scale of the challenge facing law enforcement, underscoring that only coordinated action can counteract these threats.”

Across the globe, authorities uncovered various cases where trafficking victims were forced into exploitative schemes, ranging from industrial-scale online scams in the Philippines to forced recruitment into multi-level marketing scams in West and Central Africa. Meanwhile, operations in Brazil linked migrant smuggling to drug trafficking networks, with a significant cash seizure connected to the smuggling routes.

The NCA’s involvement extended to deploying an international liaison officer to INTERPOL’s Operational Coordination Unit in Skopje, North Macedonia, ensuring enhanced global intelligence sharing throughout the operation. This comprehensive international response, coordinated by INTERPOL with the support of specialized units, underscores a growing need for unified action against transnational criminal networks.

As the operation highlighted the multi-faceted nature of human trafficking and smuggling, INTERPOL’s Executive Director of Police Services Stephen Kavanagh remarked, “Beyond providing a snapshot of global trafficking and migration trends, the operation served as a vital capacity building opportunity for countries, fostering relationships between specialized units, and enhancing cross-agency collaboration.”