Editor’s Note: RCMP initially said the 36-year-old is from Spruce Creek, but later stated he is from the RM of Edenwold. This story has been updated as a result.
A police investigation into a Saskatchewan trucking company led to two people facing charges, including human trafficking, according to the RCMP.
Work on the labour-related human trafficking case began last November after police in White Butte received a tip of an “occurrence at a local trucking business” in a rural municipality 45 kilometres north of Regina, the Saskatchewan RCMP wrote in a news release.
Get daily National news
Employees at the trucking company in the RM of Edenwold were forced to pay a “large sum of cash” in exchange for a job to help them obtain permanent residency status in Canada, police said.
Workers were also subject to withheld wages, working long hours without additional pay and forced to drive with unsafe loads, the release continued.
“Labour trafficking, which is a form of human trafficking, is a hidden crime that exploits vulnerable individuals for financial gain,” said Const. Sarah Fever, the lead investigator with the White Butte RCMP.
- ‘I’m very sorry’: Accused in seawall stranger attack seeks not criminally responsible finding
- Concerns grow in Kelowna after RCMP confirm 2 extortion-related incidents
- Hundreds of construction zone speeding tickets already issued this year: Calgary police
- B.C. police seize illicit drugs in Metro Vancouver after multi-month investigation
Two people from Saskatchewan were arrested, according to the provincial police.
A 36-year-old from the RM of Edenwold and a 50-year-old from Regina were charged with one count of human trafficking, one count of receiving a benefit of human trafficking and one count of withholding or destroying documents, police said.
Both of the accused made their first appearance in court last Thursday and are expected to appear in the Saskatchewan Provincial Court in Regina on July 2.
The RCMP said they believe there are additional victims.
Comments
Comments closed.
Due to the sensitive and/or legal subject matter of some of the content on globalnews.ca, we reserve the ability to disable comments from time to time.
Please see our Commenting Policy for more.