Watch as police raid a Dundee home in the fight against human trafficking

Police in Dundee have launched a week-long campaign to disrupt organized crime groups.

Officers targeted a house in the city’s affluent Fairmuir area over suspected human trafficking and sexual exploitation offences.

Police say they are focused on disrupting the groups that sexually, financially and emotionally exploit vulnerable men, women and children.

STV News joined officers for the Fairview raid earlier this week.

Plainclothes officers were eventually allowed into the building, avoiding forced entry by officers waiting with a battering ram.

A specialist police dog was also called in to detect any evidence of exploitation. Evidence was later removed, but no one was arrested.

The operation aimed to get a bigger picture of the extent of human trafficking and sexual exploitation in Dundee.

It is a growing problem across Scotland. According to the organization Survivors of Human Trafficking in Scotland (SOHTIS), the number of victims of human trafficking in Scotland has increased by 260% in the last six years.

Cases have been found in every local authority in Scotland.

There are an estimated 360,000 people trafficked in Britain, but only 10% are found each year, the charity said.

Detective Constable Ray Birnie of Police Scotland said: “The most common (type of exploitative crime) for us is people being trafficked into the sex industry and we are very concerned for the people involved, often against their will and often brought in from the abroad.

“But it takes many forms and many different guises – including in the drug trade – and including modern slavery, where people are employed to work for wages well below what they should be paid and are exploited in that way.”

Victims found during the police operation are supported by navigators from the charity Justice & Care. The organization helps victims of exploitation rebuild their lives and supports them through the legal process.

So far this week, six properties in Tayside have been searched and 17 people have been arrested for various offences.

Detectives say disrupting the organized crime groups behind human trafficking is complex.

They urge anyone with suspicions to report this hidden crime as it can happen on anyone’s doorstep.

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