The UK's largest-ever operation against human trafficking and people smuggling has resulted in the arrest of nine individuals.

A 27-year-old suspect and a 52-year-old suspect were detained in Wandsworth, south-east London.

In the week leading up to October 4, National Crime Agency officers executed warrants on behalf of Interpol in the counties of Lancashire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and Northern Ireland.

Twenty-seven people, including 21 children, were intercepted in Tunisia attempting to travel to the UK.

A 32-year-old Syrian man, arrested in Nottingham and wanted by Romania, is accused of transporting migrants from Bulgaria to Romania, for onward travel to the Netherlands.

The other eight are wanted for people smuggling, human trafficking or modern slavery offences in France, Germany, Belgium and Romania.

Extradition proceedings for all nine suspects are ongoing.

Alongside the UK, a total of 116 countries took part in the operation with 2,517 arrests made worldwide under Operation Liberterra II.

NCA deputy director of international Rick Jones said: “This Interpol operation is a prime example of our commitment to working closely and effectively with international partners to tackle people smuggling and human trafficking.

“We utilised a range of our specialist capabilities to gather and disseminate intelligence to law enforcement agencies across the world, and to enable our officers to identify, locate and detain offenders wanted overseas.

“As a result, nine individuals wanted in connection to serious offences have been removed from our communities and extradition proceedings are ongoing to ensure they face justice.”

An NCA international liaison officer was deployed to Interpol’s co-ordination unit in Skopje, North Macedonia to facilitate the exchange of intelligence across the globe.