Police are investigating at least 300 cases of modern slavery across the UK PETER BYRNE/PAThere are around 300 police operations across the UK targeting modern slavery, according to the National Crime Agency. Last September nine members of a traveller family were jailed for enslaving 18 vulnerable men, aged between 18 and 63, who were made to work for little or no money while their captors lived a life of luxury. The workers were trafficked by Lincolnshire-based Rooney family - headed by Martin Rooney senior - who were described as “chilling in their mercilessness”. They initially groomed their victims with alcohol and drugs before taking control of their bank accounts and putting them to work tarmacking driveways. One man, whose ordeal spanned more than quarter of a century, told how he was made to dig a grave and told he…

Source: The Times February 15, 2018 00:02 UTC