![\"\"](\"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/360wire\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/53\/2025\/11\/mariana_iova-576x1024.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/360wire\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/53\/2025\/11\/costel_tambac-819x1024.jpg\")
The victims were each told they were coming to the UK to work in a meat factory, when in reality they were \u201csold\u201d to Tambac and Iova who made them work as sex workers at brothels in the Harehills and Holbeck areas of Leeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The defendants seized the money earnt by the victims, leaving them with as little as \u00a310 a day to themselves, as well as enforcing their control by retaining their ID documents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This investigation has been ongoing since 2016, when one of the victims came forward to West Yorkshire Police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2018, Tambac and Iova fled the UK while they were still under investigation. Officers sought international arrest warrants, and the pair were traced to Amsterdam where they were arrested earlier this year and extradited back to the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Detective Superintendent Steele added: \u201cOur investigation was complex and began nine years ago when one of the victims came forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was the first ever investigation for West Yorkshire Police to conduct as a Joint Investigation Team with the Romanian authorities, who I would also like to thank as it meant we could maximise all investigational opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Joint Investigation Team also led to the Romanian authorities convicting the people responsible for trafficking the victims to the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA successful prosecution would not have been possible without the assistance of colleagues in Romania.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Two people have been jailed for modern slavery offences after they tricked victims into thinking they were coming to the UK to work in a meat factory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":264,"featured_media":3324,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25,6,227],"tags":[35,55,31],"class_list":["post-3323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-generalnews","category-hometop","category-west-yorkshire","tag-crime","tag-police","tag-west-yorkshire"],"yoast_head":"\n