Children trafficked into UK to defraud benefit system

Published on Sunday 23 August 2009 20:12

BABIES and young children are being trafficked into Britain by foreign criminals and used to make fraudulent benefits claims, it has been reported.

Forged immigration documents and employment records are used in the multi-million pound scam, it has been claimed.

In many cases the children are taken from families with the knowledge of their parents, the reports stated.

They are trained in street crime and placed with unrelated adults to enable fake benefit claims to be paid into accounts controlled by the trafficker.

A special team set up to investigate the problem in London has identified 119 potential child trafficking victims in the capital with more than 1,500 convictions between them.

Operation Golf is a Metropolitan Police investigation into a Romanian crime network believed to control a human trafficking ring.

Earlier this month four suspected child victims of trafficking from Romania were taken into foster care as part of a Met swoop.

More than 20 addresses in Westminster, Enfield, Haringey and Redbridge were visited and evidence of benefit crime in excess of 100,000 was found, the force said.