Vice cops could arrest newspaper editors who continue to publish brothel advertisements in an unprecedented campaign against the sordid sex trafficking trade.

Editors and publishers are likely to find themselves in front of a judge if they refuse to stop running sex ads which are later found to be linked to human trafficking.

Leading the initiative is vice squad Detective Inspector Kevin Hyland, working with the Crown Prosecution Service.

He said police were willing to charge editors and publishers with aiding and abetting sex trafficking and money laundering.

D Insp Kevin Hyland said: "It is an offence to advertise for prostitution. If newspapers do run adverts there is a possibility of prosecution.

"The legislation we are thinking of using is aiding and abetting offences of controlling prostitution for gain, offences of trafficking under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and possibly money laundering."

The Metropolitan Police operation follows sustained lobbying by anti-trafficking charity Croydon Community Against Trafficking (CCAT), which has protested about the use of trafficked women in the borough’s illegal massage parlours for more than five years.

D Insp Hyland, working in the clubs and vice unit, said the police wanted to work with newspapers in London to stamp out the advertisements.

He said: "Our aim is to reduce the demand for exploitation and trafficking and protect vulnerable women. We also want to highlight the serious crimes that brothel owners commit.

"Some of the women are forced to work as slaves, they are not allowed out, they are not allowed to enjoy any freedom.

"They have their documentation taken away from them and they receive very little or no money.

"Some have no idea of what they are getting into, even those that do don't realise the exploitation or abuses that they are going to be subjected to."

CCAT estimates there are up to 60 brothels operating in Croydon and more than 80 per cent of these are believed to use foreign nationals.

A majority of those women are thought to have been trafficked into the country to be used as sex slaves, or are being controlled by pimps in some way.

Between January and July 2010 CCAT recorded a total of 2,561 ads for massage parlours across the borough in the Croydon Advertiser, Croydon Post, Midweek Advertiser and the South London Press.

In 2008 Newsquest, publisher of the Croydon Guardian, took the decision to ban the adverts from all 305 of its titles nationwide after becoming convinced of the link between these adverts and women trafficked into the country for sex.

Kit Malthouse, London's Deputy Mayor for Policing, said: "Advertising of sex services in newspapers is just the visible tip of an organised crime iceberg that involves the full suite of organised criminal activity.

"We know a lot a sex traffickers get access to their markets through local newspapers.

"We don't allow drug dealers to advertise in newspapers so why should we allow traffickers to advertise prostitution?"

Earlier this year, new legislation made it illegal to pay for sex with someone who has been forced into prostitution.

And police chiefs are hoping preventing punters from accessing brothels through newspaper adverts will go further to stamping out this vile trade in human flesh.

Advertising brothels was calculated to be worth more than £44m in advertising for regional newspapers in 2006 and campaigners believe that more than 40 per cent of men access brothels through adverts in their local paper.

Sex traffickers Michael Dalton and Nikki Chen made £1m in just six months, running four brothels and advertising them in newspapers across south London and Surrey.

The couple, who smuggled women from China, transported their victims between the brothels caged in a van.

They were convicted and jailed for a total of five-and-a-half years at Croydon Crown Court in May. Seven women were rescued.

A spokesman from the Newspaper society said: "The NS updated our guidance to members, following discussions with the previous government, to highlight concerns about the serious crime of human trafficking.

"The government welcomed this.

"However, the NS is not a regulatory body. The final decision on whether or not to run an advertisement would have to be taken by individual publishers.

"Last month, the government confirmed that it had no plans to prohibit the advertising of legally permitted sexual services in newspapers and other mainstream media.

"Nonetheless, many newspapers have a policy of non-acceptance in any event or have been encouraged to liaise with their local police and other local enforcement agencies.

"We have asked the government to urge all the relevant agencies to adopt a more co-ordinated and coherent approach at local level.

"We are aware that there have been a number of strong editorial campaigns across the regional press highlighting the issue of human trafficking, as well as examples of publishers working alongside the police and other authorities to support efforts to crack down on trafficking, kerb crawling and other forms of sexual exploitation."

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