A PROACTIVE operation to crackdown on the human trafficking trade was carried out at South Mimms service station.

Members of a new and groundbreaking Hertfordshire partnership stopped and searched more than 30 HGVs.

Officers spoke to the drivers in a bid to raise awareness of the trade and gave them leaflets with advice on how to ensure their vehicle remained secure.

No illegal entrants were found on any of the lorries stopped.

Detective Chief Inspector Paul Williamson from Herts Constabulary's Serious and Organised Crime Group said: “There are people who smuggle themselves onboard vehicles entering the country but there are also people, including children and other vulnerable people, who became the victims of trafficking gangs.

“People who have been trafficked in this way are treated and kept in the most appalling of conditions.

“Even if they manage to reach their destination, both adults and children may well be forced to work in the sex trade, cultivate illegal drugs, and become domestic slaves or work unpaid in squalid conditions for little or no money.”