London’s glamorous façade hides a chilling truth, one that has reporters Lucy Watson and Tam Hussein of ITV News on a mission to unveil. 🕵️‍♀️🕵️‍♂️ Their investigation takes them deep into London’s affluent corners, where sex trafficking, drug trade and exploitation thrive.

They stumble upon a harsh reality: in one of the most high-end areas in London, sex workers are trafficked and held against their will. The clientele of these forced sex workers? Top-flight footballers, politicians, and business tycoons, all with a little secret that doesn’t get whispered into the public’s ears. These women, forced to service upwards of 30 men every night, are caught in a web of exploitation with earnings they never get to see.

Their journey into this dark side of society began with a chance encounter with a guy offering free cocaine and sex after an awards night. 🌃 He was well-educated, but stuck in the grim cycle of this industry. This interaction sparked their curiosity, propelling them to dig into the matter and map out these houses.

Their investigation led them to 15 to 20 brothels, hiding in plain sight in one of London’s most expensive postcodes, catering to the rich and the powerful. But their findings ran deeper. They traced the operation back to Eastern Europe and Albania, where women are groomed from a young age, promised grand jobs in places like London, only to be forced into prostitution to pay off an insurmountable debt. 😔

These women live in fear, controlled not just by debt bondage but by the threat to their families. Their passports are often left with them because the gangs know the threat to their families back home is enough to keep them from fleeing.

Using hidden cameras 📷, they managed to capture the dehumanizing treatment of these women, selected by clients who paid around £300 an hour, often drugged up and spending days in these brothels. With tens of thousands of pounds drained from their accounts, these clients too found themselves trapped in this twisted operation.

Their investigation uncovered a chilling level of organization and a network of complicit parties, including street vendors and beggars who acted as lookouts for the traffickers. It took nearly six months to unravel this narrative, but it was worth it.

The investigation spotlighted the exploitation that many women are forced to endure, living as victims rather than criminals. As a result, authorities began pushing for the criminalization of purchasing sex and the decriminalization of the victims.

Yet, the grim reality persists, with the same old parties happening in the same high-end areas. Despite their groundbreaking investigation, the messages continue to flood in, pointing to new addresses and parties. Change may be on the horizon, but the journey is far from over. 👀💔