November 5, 2018 2.20 pm This story is over 77 months old

Lincoln brothels suspect named

A suspect has been named ahead of a Lincoln court hearing
73 people were arrested nationally after a fortnight of law enforcement activity targeting modern slavery and human trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation. Photo: National Crime Agency

A 53-year-old man is due to appear in court next week on suspicion of modern slavery offences after alleged brothels were found in Lincoln.

As previously reported, Lincolnshire Police made three arrests and charged one person following a two week operation led by the National Crime Agency, which commenced on September 17.

At the time police said a man aged 62 (later amended to 53) was arrested in connection with suspected brothels.

The man has been named as Sung Woon Cho of Radnor Bridge Road, Folkestone, Kent and is due to appear at Lincoln Crown Court on Friday, November 16.

The court date next week is for a mention hearing and a trial has been set for March 11, 2019. He has been charged on suspicion of modern slavery offences between September 16-19 2018.

Although the exact location of the brothels within Lincoln could not be revealed by police, they did confirm that they are no longer in operation due to police action.

At the time, two females, aged 52 and 31, were also arrested on suspicion of modern slavery offences as part of a separate investigation.

They have both been released under investigation.

Police previously said that potential female victims had been identified in both cases.

NCA’s National Operation

The National Crime Agency released statistics last month which highlighted that over 90 potential victims of slavery have been identified and 73 people were arrested.

Of those arrested, 24 were for modern slavery offences, 19 were for controlling prostitution, while the rest were for a variety of offences including conspiracy to rape, money laundering and immigration offences.

This follows a fortnight of law enforcement activity targeting modern slavery and human trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation.

The co-ordinated action took place in September and was led by the National Crime Agency’s Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Unit and involved 37 police forces from across the UK, as well as partners including Border Force and Immigration Enforcement.