POLICE have been given authority to retain cash seized during an investigation into the exploitation of workers and human trafficking.
On Wednesday, four people were arrested and bailed following the execution of a warrant at a house in the Lyndale Avenue area of Connah’s Quay.
They have since been bailed until June on suspicion of human trafficking offences which are being investigated by Mold based detectives.
The investigation follows complaints made to the police by a Polish family that they had allegedly been trafficked into the UK and forced to work on a farm.
Detective Constable Barbara Johnson, of the North Wales Police financial investigations department, told Flintshire Magistrates Court at Mold that a quantity of cash, in excess of £1,000, had been seized.
Four suspects, who had been bailed, were all Polish.
They had been informed of yesterday’s hearing but had decided not to attend.
Magistrates granted her application for the money to be detained, initially for 14 days, under The Proceeds of Crime Act, so the documents relating to the money could be translated into Polish.
It had not been established who the money belonged to and investigations were continuing, she explained.
It was suspected the money had been used, or was intended to be used, in the commission of crime, human trafficking offences.
l Wednesday’s operation involved North Wales Police, the Serious Organised Crime Agency, The Gangmasters Licensing Authority, the Red Cross and the Salvation Army.