TWELVE men arrested for immigration offences in raids across Wiltshire earlier this month are to be deported.

The arrests were part of Operation Hornsman, a UK-wide initiative coordinated by the National Crime Agency’s Human Trafficking Centre.

The operation involved 33 different agencies including police forces, Home Office Immigration Enforcement, HM Revenue and Customs as well as the Gangmasters Licensing Authority.

Wiltshire Police led two days of raids on 20 businesses across the county during the first week of June, including a number in Swindon.

14 arrests were made for offences ranging from entering the UK illegally to controlling and managing a brothel – more than in any other county involved in the operation.

Those arrested for immigration offences were transferred to the custody of the Home Office while the remaining suspects were dealt with by Wiltshire Police.

A spokesman for the Home Office has now confirmed that 12 of those arrested will be deported back to their countries of origin.

They are being held in immigration detention centres while arrangements are made to remove them from the UK.

The detainees include five men from Vietnam, aged between 18 and 37, who were arrested at Megan Nails in Fleet Street.

Two Albanian men, both aged 24, were arrested while working at the Hand Car Wash on Bridge End Road.

A 28-year-old Vietnamese man was also arrested at the American Fashion Nails salon on Commercial Road.

All of the men arrested in Swindon had entered the UK illegally.

Four other men, two from Vietnam and two from Albania, were arrested at businesses in Warminster and Salisbury.

While the individuals arrested will now be deported, the people that employed them could face significant financial penalties.

Investigations are also underway into breaches of minimum wage legislation by a number of the businesses that were raided.

Martin French, Head of the Human Trafficking Centre at the National Crime Agency, said: “This operation really demonstrates the broad nature of how we take on those involved in trafficking and exploitation.

“It involved a collaboration between a large number of law enforcement and government agencies, but also NGOs and the charity sector.

“There are criminal networks involved in forcing or coercing people to move across continents, often on the basis of empty or false promises.

“But those victims often end up being exploited in our communities up and down the UK, whether that is through sexual exploitation, domestic servitude or just as cheap labour.

“This is why the response needs be at local, national and international levels. The more intelligence we can build up the more action we can take to target the criminals involved in these horrific crimes and protect the victims.”

The Wiltshire Police Human Exploitation and Emerging Threats (HEET) team are urging anyone with information about exploitation in the area to call the force non-emergency number on 101 so the cases can be investigated.

The Crimestoppers website - www.readthesigns.co.uk - also contains a guide on the signs of labour exploitation and modern slavery.