For the first time, a dedicated covert police unit has allowed cameras to film a secret investigation into a human trafficking gang. This series – which was embedded with surveillance and undercover officers for three years – tracks an organised crime group as they traffic women from South America to work as prostitutes in UK brothels. The series provides a glimpse into a secret side of policing that we seldom see, and we meet the women who’ve been exploited to pay for the lavish lifestyle of the criminals who control them. In the second episode, the police start visiting brothels to meet the women who are being exploited. What the women recount is shocking but not one of them is prepared to give evidence. If they’re going to bring down Mark Viner, the head of the organised crime group, the police are going to need to catch him red handed. Having secured the intelligence, they now need to capture the evidence. But this is a man who’s spent his whole life slipping the police’s net. Could the answer be to snare one of his associates?
Taken: Hunting The Sex Traffickers – Monday 9pm on Channel 4
