International agencies the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and The International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) launched their largest operation to date against human trafficking and migrant smuggling. This week long operation ‘LIBERTA II’ has been carried out between 29th September to 4th October 2024, across 116 countries.  The operation resulted in the rescue of 3222 potential victims of trafficking and identification of 17,800 irregular migrants. 

International authorities conducted police raids on locations such as houses, businesses and nightclubs, monitored approximately 24,000 flights, reinforced strategic hotspots and carried out nearly 8 million identification checks against INTERPOL’s database. Cross-border information was shared on criminal routes and current cases. This resulted in 850 arrests for charges on human trafficking or migrant smuggling. New patterns in trafficking emerged including fraud, coercion and deception which highlight the constantly evolving mechanisms of recruitment.

This significant operation required cooperation of cross border law enforcement, intelligence agencies and judicial bodies, due to the complex, transnational nature of the crime. It is critical for experts in the area, from country experts, trafficking experts, legal experts, defence agencies and specialists of varied backgrounds to pool resources in order to create an effective response to human trafficking and migrant smuggling.