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Latest News
Major police operation by Clubs and Vice Unit to disrupt vice trade
Officers from the Metropolitan Police Service's Clubs and Vice Unit are leading a major operation to disrupt London's vice trade. Codenamed Cashleen, the three-day blitz centres on 'carders' who place cards advertising brothels in telephone boxes across London. The first phase of the operation began at 9:00hrs yesterday (7 December) when plain clothes police officers swooped on 'carders' as they placed cards in telephone boxes across Westminster, Camden, Kensington and Chelsea. Five men were arrested for placing adverts in phone boxes and a brothel in the WC1 area was closed. Thousands of cards, used to advertise local brothels, were recovered from those arrested. Today (Tuesday 8 December) officers from across the Met will be joined by Deputy Mayor Kit Malthouse as they seize cards from phone boxes in Westminster, Camden, Kensington and Chelsea and Lambeth. Staff from women's outreach agencies such as the Eaves and Object will also be rolling up their sleeves and joining in. New information from cards will be recorded and anyone caught carding arrested. (Information from cards is often vital to police who carry out intelligence-led operations throughout the year to dismantle vice networks and shut down brothels). The cards will then be destroyed and recycled. After the seizures have been completed officers from Clubs and Vice will resume plain clothes activity around phone boxes to catch anyone trying to replace them. These covert operations will continue on 9.12.09 and throughout the Christmas period. Intelligence has shown that gangs of carders strategically place cards in kiosks day and night at times when they know they will reach the largest audience. These gangs often operate protection rackets, where they claim rights to a particular area and threaten other carders who stray onto their territory. Sometimes police have even found that those doing the carding are also running brothels. So far this year 48 people have been arrested across London for carding. Some have received terms of imprisonment; others have been fined and/or given ASBOs which prevent them from entering telephone boxes in London. Brothels advertised on cards are almost exclusively places where women are exploited by brothel owners for profit. Sometimes officers have found trafficked women and even children concealed within their premises. These women are often paid little or no money and sometimes held against their will. Many brothel owners have also often been found to be violent towards women in their employ. 'Controlling prostitution for gain' and offering the services of trafficked women in a brothel are both offences which hold a maximum penalty of 14 years imprisonment. Not only are vice cards an eyesore but carders can be threatening towards members of the public which increases the fear of crime. This year over 400,000 cards have been seized by Metropolitan Police Service officers. Officers are focussing on Westminster, Camden, Kensington and Chelsea and Lambeth as a high number of complaints have been received the community about carding in these areas. Borough officers participating in card seizures will be expected to seize cards as part of their every day patrol work. Head of the Metropolitan Police Service's Clubs and Vice Unit Ch Supt Richard Martin said: "Dozens of explicit advertising cards in phone boxes is a visible representation of prostitution. This creates unease and increases the fear of crime. If ignored the problem will grow unchecked. "Due to the large scale of the operation we are satisfied that the vice trade in London will be disrupted. It's all part of our long-term plan to put those who organise and direct vice in our communities behind bars. Catching carders and taking their cards away eats away at the foundations of this immoral trade. With the information, evidence and intelligence we obtain we will pursue those organising the brothels and break their criminal networks apart. "The impact of this trade on women can never be overstated. Behind the brothel doors my officers have found women who have been exploited, abused and sometimes trafficked into this country. It is our biggest priority to stop this happening." Deputy Mayor Kit Malthouse said: Deputy Mayor for Policing Kit Malthouse said: "We should not allow criminals to advertise their services in our city and that includes pimps. These cards are the visible manifestation of a growing industry and today we are signaling to those who exploit women that we have had enough. We want to make it dangerous for pimps to advertise by hitting them in the pocket and targeting their customers who use the numbers on the cards. "Technology means we know who they are, and from today we are doing something to stamp out these cards. We want people to be free to use telephone boxes without having to see pornography and at the same time do something to help those women at the other end of the line who are forced into a life of misery."
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