Humans for Sale BBC Scotland Investigates

Tonight, a journey through the ruthless world of human trafficking.

You think your daughter may have been trafficked back to Glasgow

Green smack if I ask the question directly want to ask, the men will

get angry. I filmed those at the heart of the

supply chain. I am not a trafficker. Who is the trafficker, then?

I discover a multi-million pound criminal network.

I'm shocked by that, to hear it. I have no words for it.

And investigate the trade right on our doorstep.

You don't know any of the names of the people?

Tonight, Humans for Sale. It's early morning, I've just

arrived at a service station on the outskirts of London. I've been told

that three times a week a bus from Romania pulls into this car park.

It's just before 2am in the morning. The information I have is, the bus

set off from Romania two days ago, it has been travelling nonstop for

two days. When it comes here, the people get off and are separated

into minibuses. I am waiting on these minibuses to arrive.

Minutes later and four empty minibuses with Romanian numberplates

turn up. All I need now is for the

long-distance coach to arrive. 2:50 and no sign of the bus, but the

minibuses are still there, so... There is a bus.

The bus is filled with Romanian 's, they've just travel nonstop for more

than 60 hours, crossing seven countries to get here, their final

destination, the UK. They will all have come willingly, it's just some

may have been trafficked. I guess if I want to find out more,

about where these people have come from, and what their stories are, or

stories of people like them, then I'm going to have to get that bus.

Human trafficking is big business. People are now the second most

lucrative criminal commodity next to drugs, with lives being traded and

sold on a scale never seen before. I have spent the past six months

investigating this trade, and have witnessed some of the shocking and

ruthless ways in which humans are now being exploited.

My investigation begins here in the highlands of Scotland.

This man was working in his family's restaurant when he saw a job for a

tan dory chef in the UK. It was advertised by this man, who, after

giving him a job, was ordered to pay ?20,000, a Visa and paperwork.

He ran this hotel in a remote village near Fort William. As seen

in this online advert, the Hotel and grounds were catering. The job as a

tandoori chef was a lie. This was now his life, 22 hours a

day, seven days a week. A fellow Bangladeshi also became a slave,

both men realised they were trapped, victims of Labour trafficking, and

they had to stay under control if they had any hope of recovering

their money. During the time that you worked for

him, how much did you get paid? One of the Hotel's regular customers

was Alison Smith. After several months of befriending the men, they

opened up to what was being done to them. A friend had been beaten, a

opened up to what was being done to friend had been hurt by him. They

were frightened for their lives. The only thing dissing was the whip on

their back. -- missing. It was trafficking, and I couldn't believe

it. This had been going on under my nose and I didn't know anything

about it, and the community didn't know anything about it.

They were promised a wonderful life, and they got the exact opposite.

He was prosecuted for Labour trafficking, he was jailed for just

three years. With the legal case closed, both men

were ordered to leave the country by the Home Office, their Visa

applications reviews. A move, they said, has put their lives in danger,

still owing thousands to money lenders in Bangladesh.

If you don't pay them, what is the threat?

More than a third of all human traffickers victims are exploited

for Labour. I'm on my way to meet a man who spent years helping rescue

and support victims of the trafficking trade in Scotland.

People have got historic views of what human trafficking is. It is not

people snatched off the street and forced abroad. It is people being

sold an idea, a better life still, better housing and better income, an

opportunity to better their lives when they arrive here. Their travel

documents are taken from them and they put in atrocious accommodation,

usually overcrowded. They are not given the kind of job they expected

to get, if they get any job at all. How big is the problem here? The

victims run into millions. In Scotland alone, you are talking

thousands rather than hundreds or more than that.

Jim says he has watched entire communities become affected by human

traffickers, like Glasgow's Govanhill. There were a high number

of victims because there is a clear link between Eastern European crime

gangs. Human trafficking is one of the things they do. Butlins with

organised Asian gangs and Glasgow, the Asian gangs provide the

accommodation and there are a lot in Govanhill.

Roma communities from sabbatical, Czech Republic and Romania make up

more than a fifth of the local population. Those countries are the

most popular sources for trafficking. Most of the victims and

traffickers are Roma. It is little wonder, then, that areas like this

but repeatedly come to the attention of enforcement agencies

investigating human traffickers. Raids on properties here are a

familiar sight. This mother and daughter from a back year were

jailed after trafficking a young goal from eastern Europe to

Govanhill. As recently as February, goal from eastern Europe to

police arrested suspects in a sex goal from eastern Europe to

trafficking case. It is believed girls were being brought to

trafficking case. It is believed Govanhill from Slovakia and forced

into prostitution. Roma are one of the most vulnerable ethnic minority

into prostitution. Roma are one of groups in the world, and have been

marginalised and excluded for centuries. Trying to get any

information here is hard. The problem is that the Roma people

have faced years facing the worst kinds of discrimination, so they are

very private people. Trying to engage them in conversation is

difficult, let alone bringing up the subject of human traffickers.

If I want to try and investigate the supply chain, meet those at the

heart of the trade, then I need to go to where both the victims and the

traffickers are coming from. Slovakia, it only became independent

from Czechoslovakia in 1993. Since then, it has struggled to break the

cycle of poverty. Here, Romas are marginalised from the rest of the

population, living in squalid, shanty settlement is with little or

no money. Slovakia is one of the most popular sourced countries in

Europe for traffickers. The destination foremost of their

victims, the UK. I'm on my way to meet a man who

describes himself as a social worker. He works closely with

authorities in trafficking cases between Slovakia and Scotland.

He is one of the few people in this area prepared to work with the Roma

community, and here he is now. I am told that what he doesn't know about

trafficking in the area isn't worth knowing. People

nice to meet you, how are you? I am looking forward to today. Do you

have a plan for me? Yes, I have a plan for you. Shall we go and we

will talk and drive. Yeah. Let's just go.

He starts by taking me to a nearby house owned by a man who he says is

a trafficker. house owned by a man who he says is

Look at this place. This comfortable house. It's a nice house compared to

the rest of the houses. The guy is in Glasgow doing his business. He

says the man buys local Roma girls and sells them to men in Scotland.

One in six females trafficked to the UK today is sexually exploited.

Girls used to be one or two days. Trafficked from here to Glasgow by

car. Why are they kept there? To which the transport? Passports,

identity cards, passports, identity cards and then go.

Padlocked. He tells me the girls trafficked to Glasgow are sold to

Asian men, predominantly Pakistani or Indian, to take part in what is

referred to as a sham marriage. The men can then apply the UK

citizenship as they are now married to an EU citizen.

How many girls will have come here? Five? Ten? 100? More than a hundred.

Really? Really. Really. He has arranged for me to meet a

Roma girls sold to a Pakistani man in Glasgow two years ago for a sham

marriage. By the time she was rescued, she had already given birth

to a daughter. But when we get to the house, we are in for a surprise.

Maybe she is back to Glasgow. think your daughter may have been

trafficked back to Glasgow? OK. The parents don't seem concerned at all.

This is the third time your daughter has been trafficked? Yes.

The girl may have gone but she has left her young daughter behind.

This is her baby? She must miss her baby.

He says the girl was sold by a family friend. Most trafficking

victims are sold or bought by someone they know.

This is typical ghetto. Most of the people living here, that ideal life

is to get to Great Britain. He takes me round the area to meet people he

is to get to Great Britain. He takes says are either traffickers or

victims of the trade. We go from house to house, village to village.

I'm told I can't film those I meet because it's too dangerous. I'm

trying to investigate the trafficking of young people from

Slovakia to the UK. Do you believe your sister was trafficked? You have

never heard of trafficking before? Some people are saying that these

girls have been trafficked. It seems more girls have been sold to gangs

in Scotland. We know there are three girls currently missing who are back

in the UK in Glasgow. Yes. Fear of speaking out against the trafficker

is clear. TRANSLATION: I am a little bit afraid. I am afraid because I

don't want to have problems. It is estimated the money made by

traffickers runs into billions. It is little wonder they don't tolerate

people speaking out. What kind of repercussions has there been when

people have spoken out? When they have spoken out, the trafficker can

come directly or indirectly and will beat them. The threats of violence

are real? Yes. He tells me the Roma traffickers cannot operate without

the permission of the leaders each settlement. He takes me to meet one

such leader. Known locally as a man handy with his fists. Much of his

life has been spent behind bars for violence. He is reluctant to be

filmed but eventually allows my camera in. I am from the UK and in

the UK there are many Roma people there.

What is this? He shows me the conditions he and his family live

in. This is the only bathroom? I ask him whether he knows anything about

the trafficking of goals to the UK for marriage. -- girls.

His evasiveness makes me suspicious. He is lying. Yes. His own daughter,

his son. He sold his own daughter? Yes. The daughter is married to a

Pakistani guy. He stood there and said nothing. He is a prize fighter

and he spent his life in prison. I think we have to let this one go.

Maybe he's not the man to... Yes, shall we go? I wonder how he can be

so sure of Victor's involvement in the trafficking trade. He then tells

me payments are being made between Victor and the man Victor sold his

daughter to in Glasgow. And you know this, how? Because you are the one

that passes the money across? Yes. You didn't tell me that before. What

happened? Tell me about the money. The Pakistani guy used to send money

to the family through my own address. I go to them every week. I

hadn't expected human trafficking to be embedded so much in communities

here. I wasn't prepared for quite how organised and lucrative a

criminal enterprise, the selling of humans had become. How old is this

one that we are going to see? 22. The woman was sold into waste Sham

marriage with a Pakistani man in the UK. He tells me to pay attention to

the birth certificate of the woman's young son. This birth certificate,

there is no farther's name. She is not obliged to say the father's

name. My questions about the father change the atmosphere. I am not

allowed to ask questions? If I start to ask the questions I really want

to ask, the men are going to get very angry? OK. The mother-in-law

makes a phone call. He tells me it is to the trafficker who demands to

speak to the young woman. I think we can't wait ask her much more. I

think we should go. The camera is turned off and I leave can sue --

confused actors -- as to the relevance of the blank birth

certificate. No name. That is the normal thing. The Pakistani guy can

claim at any time he is the father. I can understand... Right, sorry, I

just understand. It is a good thing there is no father's name because

just understand. It is a good thing anyone can buy that woman and the

Child and claim that child as theirs anyone can buy that woman and the

because they have deliberately left that blank. Even though she has been

trafficked once, she can be trafficked again and again. She will

be worth a lot of money. The man pretending to the father can explore

be worth a lot of money. The man human rights laws claiming he can be

deported from his country of choice and he's the baby's parent. My time

was a lesson for me in how the people at the heart of the

trafficking trade on nothing more than a lucrative commodity. When you

see the little they come from, it is clear the profit margins are huge.

Just a short drive away on the outskirts of the city of Kosice is

this place, Lunik IX. It houses the largest Roma community in Slovakia.

It is estimated around 7500 people live here. Few have electricity.

There's no heating, no running water. Hepatitis, scabies and

meningitis are common. Unemployment is almost 100%. Bus drivers who stop

here receive a special hazard pay. Its communities like these which the

traffickers deliberately target. As I look around, I'm approached by a

young girl in the gathering crowd. How tough is life here? Very hard.

You see. It shocks me. So many people don't understand. They don't

want to give me a job because I am a gypsy. She says she is here visiting

family and she understands why people are desperate to escape the

grinding poverty as she did. If people say they have a dream and the

dream is to go to the UK... Yes, that is the dream, definitely. You

see, come with me to the car, don't take anything, they will run. If

someone said they will give me a job, take to the UK, you would go?

Definitely. I don't think about this. What at the -- what if at the

other end it was all lies, that is not true? That is the problem. Some

people are lying. When you look not true? That is the problem. Some

the poverty, she is talking sense. How tempting Obika somebody to come

along and say, I'll give you a job, I'll give you money, I'll give you

accommodation. Just the basics. I can understand the temptation when

the traffickers come to town. Such vulnerability, such desperation

makes communities like this one rich pickings for the trafficker. Their

profits are an easy get. But some Roma communities in this

region do have money. Towns like this one where the houses are known

as smarty houses because of their bright colours. This resident says

he has watched the wealth of his bright colours. This resident says

town grow in recent years. Historically and a great number of

people from here would traffickers. They were responsible for the

movement of people trafficking to the UK. How did the people feel

about the fact that this is known everywhere else as the trafficking

town? There is something else at work

here. Many of these houses lie empty. The residents don't seem to

be at home. What's it is to the people living who own these houses?

Anglo Slovak links become apparent. This is a British registration

plate. Do you get many British registration plates here? Right now,

there is not too many. The ironic thing is these houses are the

holiday homes. They commute to the UK? A car breaks down beside me. The

driver, a resident of Govanhill. You can travel to deepest, darkest

Slovakia and meet someone who used to working Govanhill. Nice to meet

you. It is clear strong economic links have developed between

Scotland and Slovakia but how much of it is built on the success of the

trafficking trade between the two countries? Slovakian police have

unit dedicated to tackling the trafficking trade and its efforts

have been recognised worldwide as having had some considerable

success. They show me some recent cases. That is where they live?

They'll traffickers? -- they are traffickers?

Here they are on a night rate apprehend the traffickers behind a

forced begging gang. Here, rescuing some of the victims. And another

arrest. A man believed to be part of an organised crime gang.

Adrian leads the unit responsible for the trafficking across Slovakia.

They want to get their investment back, so it's a win, win?

During my time into a back year, I've seen the kind of poverty I

never expected to see within Europe. And how desperation to escape is

leading so many young women into the arms of traffickers. I'm beginning

to understand how deeply complex it arms of traffickers. I'm beginning

is, and why this exploitation is so difficult to fight.

Back in Scotland, and I wonder how I can see if sham marriages of

trafficked girls really are a part of life in Glasgow as I have been

told in Slovakia. I decide to check of life in Glasgow as I have been

Scotland's marriage records for some of the most common is a and Roma

maiden names. I then look for suspicious markers. An Asian married

name, a young bride, the same address registered repeatedly, and

tellingly, how many got divorced after the five-year Mark, the length

of time you have to have residency before being granted a UK passport.

I find dozens of marriages between young, Eastern European girls and

older Asian men. I find 70 marriages between the two community is

registered in Glasgow, a third in Govanhill. And 40% of those who

married there just over five years ago, the cut off for the passport,

are now divorced. And there is one more tell-tale sign, it will trace

of the couples living at their registered addresses. This cropped

up many times. This street has got more than a dozen links to marriages

between Pakistani men and Eastern European brides in recent years. In

a second-floor flat, it is linked to three marriages. Two brides were

teenagers, one was a 17-year-old Romanian marrying a Pakistani man a

decade older than her. I am going to try and see if I can speak to them.

It is that number... I will see if they are there.

Hello, I am looking for Mr... He was registered as being married and

living here, but he is not here? No? Right, so none of them are living

there. 17-year-old bride from Romania, and a groom from Pakistan

gave this as their address. The man that was registered as living here,

he's gone and his wife, she's gone. Believe it or not, a flat on the

other side, there is another groom and his bride. Right, so... Mr...

Isn't there. The next one, the bride and groom

gave this as their address. You don't know any of the names of

the people? Right, no luck getting anyone. More

than a dozen marriages linked to this street, brides, grooms,

witnesses to the weddings. And all of the doors that knocked, not one

couple lives there. Not one witness. Nobody.

It's not definitive proof of sham marriages, but all the signs appear

to be there. Where women are usually trafficked

for a sham marriage or sexual exploitation, for men it is Labour

the traffickers exploit them for. An EU citizen currently has the right

to work in the UK. Brexit may stop this free movement, but it's not

to work in the UK. Brexit may stop expected to prevent the vulnerable

from being trafficked when they apply to come, such is the lure of

the UK. We had a phone call into the BBC

Newsroom Live from a group of construction workers from Romania

who said they had been trafficked here, that they hadn't been paid,

the conditions were really bad, they weren't able to eat, and they gave

me the name and telephone number of the man they say trafficked them.

Now, I phoned this man, this alleged trafficker, and strangely enough, he

Now, I phoned this man, this alleged has agreed to meet me. So I'm going

to go and see him now, and see what he says.

Hi, Sam. Hi. Can I come in? Please. This is your new place? Yes. It is

quite empty. It is only you here? Yeah. Where are the other men? They

have gone back to Romania. They have gone? Yes. He tells me he has not

been paid for a large contract which brought over a large number of men

from Remainiac. How many? 30. You brought 30

from Remainiac. here? -- Romania.

You promised them the work that was promised to you? Yes. He denies

mistreating the men and says he is out of pocket.

Do you feel exploited? Of course I do. I spend my money, my profit, I

work, and they promised me one thing, and it happens something

else. I feel like a slave. Have you been trafficked? Yes. If you were

else. I feel like a slave. Have you traffic, then the menu brought

across were trafficked? Of course. Does that make you the trafficker? I

am not a trafficker. Who is the trafficker, then? The man 's work

for us. There is no money how he promised.

I don't know what to think about promised.

him. He is either someone who is doing this alt of the goodness of

his heart, and bringing these men across to provide them job

opportunities in a country they want to create a future in, or he's a

trafficker. The problem is trying to prove the

difference. When there's complicity by the victim, no matter how small,

how do you prove force? Especially when those doing the trafficking are

amongst some of the world's most organised and ruthless criminal

gangs, as I'm about to discover. The former Communist country of

Romania is still trying to shake off its reputation for corruption. Steep

and complex organised criminal networks spread their tentacles

across Europe. I'm travelling west to one of the worst problems of

child exploitation in the whole country.

This is one of our safe homes. We cannot give you the address, you

know? It looks from the outside like one of any houses in the village.

This woman runs a charity that rescues and houses girls that have

been trafficked. There are cameras, safety bars,

doors are locked, this is necessary to protect the girls.

Human traffickers is the second most to protect the girls.

profitable criminal industry in the world. To these criminals, they are

an investment. They want them back. Has anybody ever tried to snatch

their investment back? Yes, we had situations when people found where

the girls go to school. And we had girls that have been kidnapped from

school. By the traffickers? Yes, they want them back. They want them

back. Living at the safe house is Anna. At

just 14 years of, she was trafficked by a family friend for sexual

exploitation, and forced into prostitution.

For the next three months, and was prostituted, raped repeatedly by

client after client. I know this is so hard, was this

something that happened once a week, once a day? How often?

How do you survive that, in your head?

Could you escape? Why couldn't you leave?

The men who raped her were all aged between 50 and 70.

In terms of trying to get your life back, how are you managing to do

that? Are you scared you will be

trafficked again? Unlike Slovakia where the victims

are harvested from impoverished communities, in this part of

Romania, poverty isn't quite as endemic so the traffickers have to

be more sophisticated. They go near schools. Internet.

Social media, it's a source of recruiting. These girls will be

raped, will be beaten, will be humiliated. You have a girl that is,

has 5-9 clients a night. And the next day, she has two clean the

toilets, make the breakfast for the trafficker, be nice to him. At some

point, they give up. You cannot measure the damage. It's a broken

life. It's a broken life. She tells me that the links between

the UK and Romania have grown stronger in recent years and become

ever more apparent. She tells me to head to a nearby town known as the

Gypsy Palace Town. If you are looking for what they

call Gypsy wealth, this is it come the town of Gypsy palaces. This is

money on an unbelievable scale. I passed one of the biggest mansions

in the town, and suddenly realise why I was sent here. Oh, my

goodness, look at that. Look at that. British registration plate.

British registration plate. British registration plate. What's that one?

British registration plate. Every vehicle outside that particular

Gypsy Palace, as they are called, is a British registration plate. In

fact, the whole town is filled with them.

Locale many British registration plates. Caravans, cars. If you

needed any more evidence of the strong links between Eastern Europe

and the UK and the amount of money flowing between the two, then look

no further than here. Few prosecutions mean it is hard to

fully understand what happens to victims once they've been

trafficked. I'm on my way to meet a lawyer who helped the British police

build cases against some of the most serious and organised trafficking

gangs. Hi, nice to meet you. How wide you? She says once trafficked,

the victims will be traded between the gangs who bid against each other

during live auctions. The girl will be presented most of the time naked

so the evaluation can go according to the way that girl would produce

money. The women are forced to sleep with one of the traffickers and

perceived how well she does it. The prices would be settled according to

be a age, according to the appearance, whether that person is a

virgin person or not a virgin person. That would also rise the

price so she can start being exploited for prostitution, domestic

exploitation, agriculture and begging. In terms of prices, what

kind of prices? A few thousand euros. She says in pursuit of profit

of the trafficking gangs have begun to diversify. There are very poor

people who are willing to sell one of their organs or part of their

organs. She shows me how an Internet search for kidneys reveals a list of

people willing to sell their organs. That person is 18 years old. This is

the price. 30,000 euros. For the kidney or a part of the liver of

25,000 euros negotiable. The traffickers would take advantage of

these people by making the arrangements for the harvesting of

the organs? They would contact them and tell them, you are willing to

sell your organs, I am having somebody who wants to buy it. After

the operation took place, they would realise that they are not receiving

the money and they have been trafficked. Would you want to try to

call one of these numbers? Yes, we can call one now. I spot one of the

members has a British prefix. She calls the number.

I have asked, is the 50,000 euros the last price? I asked, do you know

the contexts in which we can do this? He said, "I think it will be

better in Romania but we can do it also here." In London? Yes. I am

shocked by that. I am. Traffickers, regardless of their speciality, sex,

labour, organs, have to move their victims quickly, easily and in large

numbers. I've been told that buses run three times a week to the UK

filled with people chasing work. It is the same bus which Sauron uses to

bring his men over. It is the same one I filmed at the service station.

How long does it take? It is a route I know the traffickers use, a route

I want to capture on camera. It is early morning in Romania's

capital, Bucharest. I'm on my way to a car park on the outskirts of the

city. I'm told a minibus will pick me up. The man with me is security

posing as my travelling companion. We ask for one-way tickets to

Glasgow. The driver once ?165 each in sterling. Over the next ten

hours, we had north begin up more and more Romania and passengers.

We're driving to meet a long-distance coach that will take

us to the UK. I just poured into a place and this is where we meet the

bus and then we start from here across Austria, Germany, France. The

bus seems to be preparing for a journey that is long haul in the UK.

How long will you go to the UK for? One-year, two years. Where do you to

work? Are you working there also? Construction? Wow! The bus is fall.

Nearly all are going to the UK for work. Many in response to online

adverts. Others going on the promise of a job. Head of this, three days,

seven countries, 2000 miles. The film being shown as Romania and

subtitles. That is a film about human trafficking. Why run it? This

19-year-old is going to Crawley. Is the money good? ?118 a week? I am

struggling with trying to work out the difference between those who are

effectively trafficked on this bus or those who are being exploited.

They pay for your accommodation and things? This man is heading to

Coventry to work in a warehouse but it is not his first time working in

the UK. Do you feel exploited their sometimes? You are working with ?4

an hour? That is exploitation. When you speak to these people, they

are full of hopes and dreams of something better waiting for them in

the UK. I wonder how many of them will go on to realise they've been

not only exploited, but conned and trafficked.

Three days after leaving, we arrive at the same London service station I

filmed at a few weeks earlier. As I watch everyone disappear into the

night in minibuses for their new lives around the UK, I get into the

one bound for Scotland. I wonder lives around the UK, I get into the

which one of my travel companions being exploited will find out they

have been trafficked. Back home, there is one thing to do. I call the

have been trafficked. Back home, man in London selling his kidney. Is

he one of the crawl aspects of the trafficking trade of organs or just

desperate for money? We meet. He says he is called Adrian. With him

as a woman he says is his wife. He is also selling her kidney. This is

all very new for me. I tell him the kidney is for my

cousin who is sick. Where will it take place?

He tells me we need to make a private pavement the doctor carrying

out the operation. The secret pavement of the doctor?

-- payment. It is the woman's kidney he keeps referring to. She remains

strangely quiet. Are you scared for your wife?

His ease with this criminal approaches surprising bearing in

mind his previous profession. He tells me he's aware traffickers

are now targeting those selling organs.

I tell him I'll be in touch and we say goodbye. Thank you so much,

goodbye. When asked for comment by the BBC, he denied having a kidney

for sale. Selling their own organs, buying into dreams, wanting the

escape. I realise now these choices often are made over sheer

desperation. Sometimes makes the victim is complicit in their own

trafficking. Such is the need to chase the promise of something

better and having seen what I have and heard from those who have lived

at the heart of it, who can blame them?