Interpol just recently said that its biggest international operation ever to stop human trafficking and people smuggling saved more than 3,000 possible victims and arrested over 2,500 people. The operation, called Liberterra II, lasted six days, from September 29 to October 4, and it happened in several countries. It was a big step forward in the fight against organized crime networks that take advantage of weak people around the world.
The people who were saved during the process had been through a lot of bad things. In Argentina, children were found working on farms against their will, which is a stark reminder of the continuing problem of child trafficking in the agricultural sector. In North Macedonia, migrants were found working in bars where they were being abused. In Iraq, others were forced to beg on the streets. A lot of people were freed from being made to work in private homes across the Middle East. This is a type of trafficking that most people don’t even know about.
The operation also helped find and identify nearly 18,000 people who were in the country illegally. Many of them were victims of trafficking or smuggling. The large number of these findings shows how widespread human trafficking is and how complicated the methods are that traffickers use to move people across borders, which often involve lying and tricking people.
Multiple steps were taken by the authorities involved in the operation to stop trafficking. Along with the police raids that led to the arrests and rescues, key border checkpoints were made stronger, and activity on nearly 24,000 flights was closely watched for signs of trouble. The police were sent to high-risk areas and places where trafficking groups usually work because they are known to be trafficking hubs. Along with these efforts, advanced tracking systems were used, and Interpol’s huge files were searched nearly eight million times to find known criminals and victims.
About 850 of the people arrested as a result of the operation are being charged with specific crimes like human trafficking or smuggling migrants. This brings attention to how big the crime is, since traffickers and smugglers work all over the world, taking advantage of the neediness of refugees and weak people to make money. Jurgen Stock, the Secretary General of Interpol, talked about how hard it is to fight organized crime groups and how they are getting better at taking advantage of weak people to make money. Human trafficking is an international problem that affects many men, women, and children all over the world. He stressed how important it is for countries to work together to stop it.
The Liberterra II results show not only how complicated and widespread human trafficking is, but also how important it is for law enforcement agencies across countries and areas to keep working together. The action is a reminder of how dangerous trafficking networks are and how terrible their effects are on the lives of the people they use. It also shows how important it is for police to be alert, work together, and come up with new ways to stop these criminal businesses and better protect people who are weak. Even though this operation was successful, the government knows that there is still a lot of work to be done to break up these global trafficking rings for good and keep potential victims safe.
ALSO READ:
Tinubu Praises Trump And Says, “Together Will Foster Economic Cooperation.”
