Trafficking in human beings. An ongoing problem for the EU’s law enforcement community

The Trafficking of Human Beings (THB) is core business of international criminal organisations. It is seen as a relatively low risk/high reward crime. The EU’s legal provisions for dealing with THB are currently undergoing a radical reform. The new Directive is to be in place in national laws by April 2013. Putting into practice of the provisions of the directive will have a substantial impact on both under cover and uniformed police operations, and the development of an effective interaction between the two. In addition, the G8’s Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has highlighted that the investigative culture of focusing on the predicate offence, at the expense of its allied money laundering offences is a “recurrent obstacle” in many jurisdictions. All of these issues will have a significant impact on police organisational structures as, it is arguable, that the working relationship between covert and uniformed policing, to include the relevant Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) will have to be tighter than might traditionally be the case, say, during a drug
trafficking operation. This paper, written by an EU lawyer, examines these issues from a law enforcement perspective.