How criminals enslaving and trafficking people in the UK have adapted to Covid - including 'using the Xbox and Deliveroo'

Coronavirus has had monumental impacts to way of life across the world. For perpetrators and victims of modern slavery, experts say it has pushed their hidden world deeper underground.
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Dealers dressing up as key workers in supermarket car parks, drug runners pretending to be going to a relative’s funeral, and traffickers grooming young people via social media and Xbox Live chats – just some of the ways the criminal world has adapted to the pandemic, according to researchers from The Rights Lab at the University of Nottingham.

“Particularly in the first lockdown when it wasn’t busy outside it was easier to identify or raise suspicion about criminal activity,” said Dr Ben Brewster, research fellow at the lab in anti-slavery policy.

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“Cuckooing for example, where a gang takes over a vulnerable person’s house to use as a base for drug trafficking, was easier to spot because people going in and out of one house all day during lockdown would have raised suspicions.

Crooks have reportedly been dressing in Deliveroo uniforms to continue working (Picture: Mikael Buck/Deliveroo)Crooks have reportedly been dressing in Deliveroo uniforms to continue working (Picture: Mikael Buck/Deliveroo)
Crooks have reportedly been dressing in Deliveroo uniforms to continue working (Picture: Mikael Buck/Deliveroo)

“During our research we have heard of NHS uniforms being used, Deliveroo outfits and even dressing as runners in spandex to hide in plain sight and keep activities going.

“We saw a lot of things move more online with youngsters getting groomed via Snapchat and Instagram, because they can’t be accessed in person anymore, and being pulled in with offers to make quick money by holding a package or even having money stored in their bank account for a few weeks.”

The lab, which is the world’s largest group of modern slavery researchers, submitted a report to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights for a meeting last September exploring the impact of Covid-19.

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The report said measures states had implemented to limit the virus and curb the negative impacts of the pandemic had created and exacerbated “vulnerabilities to exploitation, abuse and modern slavery” and driven trafficking underground.

An Unbroken Chain: Modern Slavery in the UKAn Unbroken Chain: Modern Slavery in the UK
An Unbroken Chain: Modern Slavery in the UK

“Traffickers and other criminals are adjusting their business models to the ‘new normal’ created by the pandemic, especially through use of modern communication technologies,” it said.

In July last year, the National Crime Agency infiltrated EncroChat, an encrypted communication platform used exclusively by criminals.

Officers made 746 arrests as part of Operation Venetic and seized £54 million, 77 firearms and more than two tonnes of drugs.

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Dr Brewster said: “With such disruption at the top of the chain, we thought we would see this impact at street levels but from our research we have found little evidence from those we have spoken to that this is the case.

“I think throughout our work we have been surprised at how quickly criminals have adapted to keep the drug supply up and running which shows how resilient it is as a sector and the effort that is put in because of its profitability.

“In a strange paradox it seems that the organised groups are sticking to government coronavirus regulations so that they don’t stick out in public, and to ensure that those in the line don’t get sick and disrupt activity.”

At the start of the pandemic the Chancellor allocated £1.73 million to help organisations adapt support for victims during the Covid-19 pandemic.

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But Vicky Brotherton, head of policy engagement at The Rights Lab, said victims may have been unable to reach out during the pandemic and are not being identified as they are not coming across professionals.

“It has been the same with schools closing and not being able to identify the children who need support,” she added.

Amanda Naylor, from the charity Barnardos, said children being out of school combined with their fears about Covid and the future “provides a perfect recruitment” opportunity for exploiters.

She said: “We need to be really conscious that we may well see an increase in children being exploited and trafficked because we have been distracted because of the wider health agenda.

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“It is really important that we keep a focus on these children who could become lost if we don’t plug them back into education and back into protected networks.”

A Home Office spokesperson said it had intoduced an Independent Child Trafficking Guardians scheme in one-third of English and Welsh councils to provide specialist support to children vulnerable to modern slavery, which had remained operational throughout the pandemic.

They added: “We are committed to the national rollout of this provision, and the Government continues to work with schools and charities to identify vulnerable children in need of targeted help.”

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