Singapore a participant in Interpol's global anti-human trafficking op

A global operation by Interpol uncovered dozens of cases that saw people being trafficked and forced to work in scam centres to cheat others.

- Nadine Chua

Interpol said this marked a shift from traditional trafficking patterns, where human exploitation was the sole criminal objective.

Scam syndicates currently lure victims with false promises of employment and keep them at scam centres through intimidation and abuse.

Interpol said on Nov 6 that it rescued 3,222 potential human-trafficking victims following its largest operation, called Operation Liberterra II, against people smuggling from Sept 29 to Oct 4.

It was carried out across 116 countries and territories, with 2,517 arrests made. Over 800 of the arrests were on human-trafficking or migrant-smuggling charges.

Interpol and the Singapore Police Force confirmed that Singapore was a participating country in Operation Liberterra II but did not provide details on the Republic's involvement.

Interpol said that targeting online scam centres using human-trafficking victims has been an operational priority since it warned its member countries, including Singapore, of this global trend.