Foreigners Targeted As Police Tackle Child Sex Rings

9th May 2014

More than 20 men were being questioned last night on suspicion of running a sprawling nationwide child prostitution ring.

The leaders of the network are accused of smuggling girls as young as 12 into the country before selling them for sex.

Police are investigating suspected rape, violence, people trafficking, drug dealing and firearms offences.

The gang was held as hundreds of officers swooped on addresses in Kent, the Midlands and West Yorkshire in one of the biggest operations of its kind.

According to police, all of the 16 victims identified so far and 22 suspects are Roma immigrants originally from Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Many have been under investigation for more than six months as police worked to identify the true scale of the vile racket.

The focus of the latest early-morning raids was in the Margate, Folkestone, Dover and Gravesend areas of Kent. More than 320 officers from Kent Police entered a series of addresses, including several seafront bedsits. Raids also took place in Leeds and Birmingham.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2623793/22-migrants-quizzed-police-target-child-sex-ring-Leaders-accused-smuggling-girls-young-12-country.html#ixzz31Ep07h7C