POLICE have raided addresses in Harrow and Wembley as part of a London-wide drive to stamp out the illegal "sex industry", launched on Thursday last week.

More than 50 arrests were made in a series of raids carried out over four days, and 13 women and two men were detained. Some of the people arrested are thought by police to have links to organised crime.

Operation Maxim was run by Scotland Yard with support from the immigration authorities, as many of those who were arrested are believed to be in the country illegally. False papers, including passports and other identity documents, were seized.

Intelligence gathered on the raids is still being analysed, and the police are working with the immigration services to determine the status of those arrested. Seven of the women detained are from Thailand, and a number of the others come from eastern Europe.

Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur said this week: "This operation is the second in a series of many. We have focused on the illegal sex industry because we know that it is being infiltrated by organised crime groups, particularly those from eastern Europe.

"These groups are also involved in a whole range of other illegal activities, including kidnapping, identity theft, drugs trafficking, and money laundering. This is the start of a concerted effort to take out these criminals, and generally make it very difficult for them to operate in London."

Operation Maxim falls under the umbrella of Reflex, the Government task force tackling organised immigration crime.

Detectives from the Metropolitan Police's intelligence branch, SCD11, are working with the immigration service to hunt down criminals who are in the UK illegally and carry out proactive operations against them.

Such criminals will, at first, be dealt with through the criminal justice system, but where it is not possible to gather sufficient evidence to secure convictions, they will be handed over to the Immigration Service.

AC Ghaffur added: "We know that London is a hub for illegal entrants intent on committing serious and organised crime. These criminals are causing misery on many levels, particularly within their own communities. Many of the crimes they commit impact directly on the diverse communities of London and by arresting them we will be making London safer for all its inhabitants."

As we went to press yesterday (Wednesday) Scotland Yard was unable to give details on how many local addresses had been raided or how many arrests had been made at them.

May 1, 2003 10:00