A police operation against human trafficking and people smuggling has resulted in more than 1,000 arrests across the globe and the identification of thousands of victims, the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) announced on Tuesday.
Involving law enforcement agencies from 54 countries, the international crackdown conducted jointly by Interpol and Afripol was dubbed Operation Flash-Weka and took place in two phases between May and June.
It targeted organised crime networks involved in such trafficking on the African continent and beyond, the Lyon-based international criminal police organisation said in a statement.
"Human trafficking and people smuggling are often part of a wider and more complex criminal chain," explained Interpol Secretary General Jürgen Stock.
According to the latest figures from Interpol, Operation Flash-Weka resulted in the arrest of a total of 1,062 people, the detection of 2,731 undocumented migrants and the identification of 823 victims of human trafficking. More than 800 items of criminal merchandise (firearms, vehicles, etc.) were also seized.
In particular, it uncovered widespread trafficking across West Africa. Many of the victims identified were from Asia, particularly Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.
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Networks were identified in Burkina Faso and in Cameroon, with victims rescued in the latter's capital Yaoundé and suspects arrested in Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea and Mali.
Intelligence received in Sierra Leone via Interpol led to a police raid that rescued 15 suspected victims of human trafficking, all men from Sri Lanka, according to the same source.
In a hotel in Lomé (Togo), authorities rescued 30 victims of human trafficking from Nigeria who had been sexually exploited.
