Police shut down brothel network

A network of brothels in Cambridgeshire has been shut down and 25 suspects arrested during a crackdown on human trafficking for the sex trade.

Operation Radium was launched by police in the county last August in a bid to halt the trade in people, and to rescue victims abducted into the sex industry.

Police believed gangs were trafficking young women from the Far East, Europe and Africa for use as prostitutes.

Detectives have arrested 25 people, and 10 young women have been rescued.

Destroys women's lives

The victims have been helped to return to their home countries or been taken to safe accommodation.

Operation Radium detectives are optimistic that they have closed down at least one network of foreign-run brothels across East Anglia.

The campaign is now part of a national Operation Pentameter Two, police said.

Detective Chief Inspector Kevin Vanterpool, the head of Operation Radium, said: "In the six months since the launch we have taken action to hit hard at the sex trafficking trade.

"Much of the intelligence helping us has come from members of the public who have called, sometimes with vital clues.

"Operation Radium is continuing. We are determined, with the help of the public, to put an end to a trade which destroys the lives of young women."