A year-long investigation by London police into the trafficking of migrant workers has ended with three arrests.
Police received information in September 2018 about three Londoners who had been operating a recruitment business called "Bethesda Agricultural Enterprises Inc." to match migrant workers with local employers between 2015 and 2017. Investigating officers discovered the individuals involved posed as an immigration lawyer and a property owner in order to recruit people from South America.
When the migrant workers arrived in Canada they had to hand over their passports, believing the individual posing as a lawyer had secured work permits for them. The workers were then housed at several homes throughout the city, with up to a dozen of them staying in a single house at any given time.
Electricity and water were shut off to one of the homes the workers were staying in for a period of time, police said.
The workers were given a set of "house rules" to follow and were threatened with deportation or police involvement if they did not abide by them.
“The conditions in the house and other residences were deplorable,” Detective Sergeant Sean Sussex said in a statement issued Monday. “Offences such as the ones alleged are of great concern to us, given that they involve the victimization of vulnerable individuals."
Jose Alfredo Callejas, 62 and Karin Yadira Callejas, 35, both of London, were arrested in relation to the investigation last Wednesday. They are now charged with seven counts each of human trafficking by recruiting, and seven counts of withholding or destroying documents in relation to human trafficking.
Nathan Stewart Brown, 33, of London, turned himself in to police a day after the Callejas were arrested. He is charged with three counts of human trafficking by recruiting.
All three have been released from police custody and are scheduled to appear in London court on February 3, 2020.
Police have so far identified seven victims, all from Guatemala, in connection with this case and believe there could be more out there. They are asking anyone with information related to the investigation to call them at 519-661-5670 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
