Police free 13 ‘slaves’ during raid involving armed officers on travellers’ campsite

Hundreds of police officers stormed a travellers’ campsite and freed 13 ‘slaves’ today.

Two Britons were amongst the victims rescued during the dawn raid on the Cardiff caravan site.

Eight Polish and three Romanian ‘slaves’ were also freed as more than 250 officers, some of which were armed, swooped on the travellers.

During the raid a cache of dangerous weapons, piles of cash and a fleet of luxury supercars were also seized.

Chief Superintendent Belinda Davies of South Wales Police said the group, aged between 23 and 56 years, were taken to a secret location to be treated by the Red Cross.

The raid was part of an ongoing operation codenamed Purple Barracuda to dismantle organised crime gangs in the Welsh capital.

Ms Davies said: “During the course of the operation, twenty people were arrested for an array of offences, including suspected forced labour, money laundering, theft and the large scale abstraction of electricity.

“Suspected proceeds of crime ranging from luxury cars, including a Ferrari and Range Rover, were seized along with a very substantial quantity of cash.

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