BARNEVELD Three people were arrested on suspicion of human trafficking during a police action in Barneveld and Veenendaal on Tuesday. It concerns a 26-year-old Barnevelder and two men aged 21 and 26 from Veenendaal.
“Around six o’clock in the early morning, four locations were raided, after which two arrests followed in Veenendaal,” the police said. Several phones were also seized.
APARTMENT De Barnevelder was arrested on Tuesday morning around 7:30 am in an apartment on the corner of Langstraat with the Rev. Fraanjestraat in the center of Barneveld. Several plainclothes officers wearing stab or bulletproof vests forced their way into the home. A witness heard doors being forced. There were two company buses from a glazing company near the house around 08.15 hours, including wooden bulkheads and glass windows.
SEXUAL EXPLOITATION The campaign is part of a major investigation into human trafficking by the Migration Crime and Human Trafficking Team (TMM) of the Central Netherlands unit in collaboration with the East Netherlands unit. The investigation focuses on the sexual exploitation of an adult victim. This would have happened between October 2020 and the end of March 2021 in various places in the country, including Veenendaal, Doorn and Utrecht.
DEEP BREATH Four suspects have already been arrested in this investigation. The men arrested this morning have been taken in for questioning and are in custody. “This was a long-term process,” the research team said. “Today’s result is due to months of investigation and the efforts of many colleagues.” According to the police, more arrests may follow later.
LIETEREND “Human trafficking includes recruiting, transporting or taking in and housing people using coercion,” the police explained. “The aim of the trafficker is to exploit a person. There are many forms of human trafficking, such as criminal exploitation and labor and sexual exploitation. The victims often have to work under inhumane conditions. They have to give up a large part of the money they earn.”
Also read: Exhibition in Barneveld about the dark world of human trafficking
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