Garda Operations
Operation 'Sibling'
Operation 'Sibling' established in 2008, was a joint investigation between the Romanian Authorities and the Garda Síochána into the alleged trafficking of Romanian nationals into Ireland from Romania for the purposes of labour exploitation. The criminal gang at the centre of this investigation is Romanian, three members of which were charged with trafficking for labour exploitation in Ireland - the gang leader was sentanced to 7 years and his co-accused to 5 years each.
Operation 'Baghdad'
Operation 'Baghdad' was a Eurojust Operation which targeted Iraqi traffickers across Europe. Ireland actively participated in the operation which led to over 100 arrests across Europe.
Operation 'Abbey'
Operation 'Abbey' was an investigation primarily targeting an organized prostitution gang based in the Irish midlands. It was a joint operation between the Garda Síochána/the UK/Northern Ireland/Welsh Authorities. On the 3 December 2008 nine locations were searched as part of this investigation. A total of seven women were found during these searches who Gardaí believed were working as prostitutes. Following investigation none of the seven women were identified as victims of human trafficking.
As a result of this Operation 3 persons were charged in Wales with trafficking, directing prostitution and money laundering. They were convicted on the latter 2 charges and were given sentences of 7 years, 3
1/2 and 2 years imprisonment. Charges on human trafficking have been kept on file which means that they could be prosecuted for them in the future.
Operation 'Marton'
Operation 'Marton' was a joint operation between the Garda Síochána and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) which targeted a male form Northern Ireland, who facilitated the illegal entry into Ireland of African nationals crossing the land border at Dundalk having landed in Belfast.
Operation 'Quest'
The Garda Síochána under Operation 'Quest' at the national Bureau of Criminal Investigation, with the support of other specialised units, continually target the individuals and criminal groups involved in the criminal aspects of the sex industry. One of the findings of investigations under Operation 'Quest' is that brothel keepers/pimps use websites to advertise sexual services on a per-hour basis of the under the guise of independent escorts.
Operation 'Charity'
Operation 'Charity' is a Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) initiative to tackle the phenomenon of so-called Marriages of Convenience and which is designed to prevent and detect criminally associated with marriages suspected to have been entered into by non-EEA national to EU nationals for the purpose of acquiring immigration status. The Operation is still ongoing.
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