http://news.scotsman.com/politics.cfm?id=1881442005
"A RISING tide of human trafficking by criminal gangs targeting Edinburgh is to be tackled by a new police squad.
The specialist police unit - the first of its kind in Scotland - aims to smash the gangs which bring poor immigrants into the Lothians to work in 'slave conditions', often in the city's illicit sex trade.
Crime rings with links to the Mafia are known to have smuggled women into the country to work as prostitutes in Edinburgh.
Illegal immigrants from Lithuania, Estonia, Poland and Russia have been brought here and ruthlessly exploited.
As well as working in the sex trade, illegal immigrants are being employed for very low wages in factories and picking crops.
The new boss of the Organised Immigration Crime Unit said the problem was rising in the Capital, but police had "no idea" just how big it may be.
Scores of people have been arrested in blitzes against "gangmasters" who often trick their victims with the lure of good jobs and wages. However, no prosecution for human trafficking has been made by the Lothian and Borders force to date.
Detective Inspector Euan Morrison, head of the new unit, said: "We are not after illegal immigrants, we want to find those who are exploiting them."
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