In a British suburb in central England, police officers accustomed to burglaries and
household disturbances are breaking new ground by finding ways to battle the
latest crime wave – human trafficking.
Sergeant Alex Sobolewski of the West Midlands Police, who is based at Brierley
Hill about 130 miles (210 km) northwest of London, said a large part of his work
now concerns people trafficking, a crime barely discussed five years ago.
With an estimated 46 million people globally living in slavery, human trafficking is
being taken increasingly seriously in all countries with Britain home to an estimated
13,000 slaves and authorities identifying 3,266 people victims in 2015.
