Sex traffic’ cops arrest 3 men and teenage girl in armed swoop

DETECTIVES investigating sex trafficking into Britain have arrested three men and a teenage girl in an armed operation in East London today. The men, all in their 20s, and the 19-yerar-old girl have been held after raids at two addresses

By Mike Brooke

DETECTIVES investigating sex trafficking into Britain have arrested three men and a teenage girl in an armed operation in East London today.

The men, all in their 20s, and the 19-yerar-old girl have been held after dawn raids at two addresses in Manor Park.

They are believed to have lured an east European woman to Britain with the promise of jobs before forcing her into prostitution, according to a Scotland Yard source this-evening.

The operation involved officers from the Met's Human Tracking Investigation team and the CO19 firearms unit, who recovered an imitation gun at one of the addresses.

Det Chief Ins John Kielty said: "This operation targeted a dangerous criminal network that preyed on a vulnerable young woman who was hoping to make a better life for herself in the UK.

"She is now being helped by our Human Trafficking team together with a charity organisation."

The men were taken to a police station in central London and the teenager to an East London police station. All four remain in custody tonight.