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Police make 95 arrests in massive human trafficking bust
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Twenty-two suspects face a preliminary hearing today
After five months of investigations, the police yesterday raided 62 addresses in Zealand and arrested 95 people in what is probably the biggest human trafficking bust in Danish history.
Some 22 people have been charged with human trafficking in a police action named 'Hvepsebo' ('wasps nest'), according to Karl Erik Agerbo, the police inspector of the special police unit, Task Force Indbrud.
”The raid has been completed,” Agerbo said, according to Jyllands-Posten. ”We have the people we need to, although we still need to identify some of them.”
Among those arrested are a lawyer and an accountant who are charged with tax evasion and fraud, but not human trafficking. Both men are Danes.
READ MORE: Police focusing on organised crime
Romanian henchmen
A further 22 have been charged with human trafficking, fraud and document forgery and will face a preliminary hearing in a Lyngby court today where a judge will decide whether or not they should be held in remand. The vast majority of the 22 hail from Romania.
Those not suspected of human trafficking are victims of the crime, according to the police, who believe they have been used and their identities have been abused for criminal purposes.
Their identifications have been used to commit fraud of upwards of 54 million kroner, and the police suspect that about 300 people, primarily Romanians, have been taken advantage of.