INTERPOL arrests 219 suspects in large-scale multinational operation against human trafficking – JURIST

INTERPOL announced Monday that national authorities from 39 countries coordinated a large-scale operation targeting the criminal networks behind human trafficking from June 3 to 9, which resulted in 219 arrests and the identification of 1,374 potential victims, including 153 children. The operation, called GLOBAL CHAIN, was led by Austria and involved coordination with Romania, FRONTEX, Europol and INTERPOL.

This operation included law enforcement actions in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. As a result, a total of 362 suspects were identified, with over 2,000 criminal assets seized, 363 fraudulent documents detected and 276 new investigations opened.

Human trafficking is a “process by which individuals are placed or maintained in a situation of exploitation for economic gain”. Human trafficking exists in all regions of the world and often involves people who are vulnerable due to poverty, violence and discrimination.

Although several international legal instruments are used to combat human trafficking, the most important is the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children. In particular, Article 5 requires States to adopt all necessary measures to criminalize human trafficking, including the criminalization of trafficking activities committed outside the national territory of a country. This protocol was signed by 117 countries and complements the United Nations Palermo Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC), which is an international legal instrument created in 2000 to “promote cooperation to prevent and combat crime more effectively organized transnational”.

This particular international operation was also designed to draw the attention of national authorities, the public and external stakeholders to the crime of human trafficking.