The National Crime Agency said the scale of exploitation is far larger than previously thought Richard Pohle for The TimesTens of thousands of vulnerable people across the country are being exploited through modern slavery, with the scale of the problem far greater than previously thought, the National Crime Agency has said. Modern slavery is being carried out by criminal gangs in every large town and city in the country who are forcing their victims into sexual exploitation, forced labour, cannabis farming and other criminal ventures. The NCA said there were now 300 live police investigations into the practice, with children as young as 12 being sold into servitude. Will Kerr, director of vulnerabilities at the NCA, said: “The more that we look for modern slavery, the more we find evidence of the widespread abuse of the vulnerable. “The growing body of evidence we are…

Source: The Times August 10, 2017 16:07 UTC