20 countries join forces to catch human traffickers during a hackathon

Europol identified criminal networks that recruited victims for sexual exploitation. Experts from 20 countries were involved in the investigation which targeted criminal networks that use websites, social media platforms, the surface web, and the dark web for human trafficking.

The EMPACT joint action, coordinated by the Netherlands, brought together law enforcement authorities from twenty countries and targeted criminal networks which recruited victims of sexual exploitation. Human traffickers used websites, social media platforms, the surface web, and the dark web to target victims. So far, eleven suspected traffickers have been identified, five of which are related to human trafficking of Ukrainian refugees. According to Europol, ten online platforms suspected of a link to human trafficking are related to Ukrainian refugees.