Southeast Asia human trafficking now a global crisis, Interpol says

SINGAPORE — Organised crime rings that fuelled an "explosion" of human trafficking and cyber scam centres during the pandemic have expanded from Southeast Asia into a global network making up to US$3 trillion a year, the head of Interpol said on Wednesday. "What began as a regional crime threat in Southeast Asia has become a global human trafficking crisis, with millions of victims, both in the cyber scam centres and as targets." The new cyber-scam centres, often staffed by unwilling staff trafficked with the promise of legitimate jobs, had helped organised crime groups diversify their revenue from drug trafficking, Mr Stock said. "But we see groups clearly diversifying their criminal businesses using drug trafficking routes also for trafficking of human beings, trafficking of arms, intellectual property, stolen products, car theft," Mr Stock said. The United Nations said last year that more than 100,000 people had been trafficked into online scam centres in Cambodia.