Terrified 'human trafficking' victim claimed his family were being held at gunpoint

A terrified man who ran into a local tyre business begging for help led to the discovery of a suspected human trafficking ring near Castletown yesterday evening.

The man was one of up to 20 people who appear to have been held against their will at a house on the N52 near Castletown, freed during a Garda operation last night.

It was Paul Cassidy (below) of Cassidy’s Tyres Castletown who raised the alarm and contacted Gardai after the man came in shaking and seeking help yesterday afternoon and while he had very little English he told him his family was being held at gunpoint.

Paul tried to calm the man down and rang Gardai for help. He said the man was in an awful state and hid in the corner behind tyres, cowering, every time a car came by. He told him he had ran up the road from the house.

“He was all shaken up the pool divil. He was trying to tell me he wanted help. He had a piece of paper with an address on it.”

While his English was very poor, Paul told how he was trying to tell him his family was held a gunpoint.

“He said please help so I rang the Gardai in Kells and they said they would get someone out.”

“He was shaking. Every car that slowed down he was hiding further in the corner, the poor divil.

“He was talking about his wife and family and was crying, I said don’t worry we will sort something out.”

A garda from Nobber Garda Station came out and Paul told him as much as he knew.

“When the Garda came and asked what was going on, I said it seems his family is being held at gunpoint. I said I wouldn’t be going to the house on my own if they have guns.”

As the news of the discovery of the suspected human trafficking ring broke this morning. Paul said he was shocked to hear what happened.

Meanwhile, shocked locals in nearby Castletown village said the first they knew of what was going on at the house was when they heard it on the news, though locals had noticed a lot of Garda activity the night before.

Michelle Finn of Finn’s Shop, Castletown, said: “The first I heard was on the news. We did notice the police activity and the Garda helicopter”

“I was amazed and shocked,” she said.

Mary Morgan, Castletown said: “I was shocked and dismayed. You would never know what is going on.”

Six people remain in Garda custody in relation to the investigation into the allegation of false imprisonment. Gardai arrested three men and two women aged in their early 40s and early 60’s and a female juvenile following the planned search of the house.

Suspected human trafficking ring smashed in Castletown