Illegal gangmaster arrested in Northern Ireland

Police have arrested a Romanian gangmaster suspected of supplying fruit pickers without a licence to farms in County Armagh, Northern Ireland.

The man was arrested yesterday (April 1) in Lurgan by the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) and the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

The 39-year-old Romanian national was apprehended as part of the regulatory authority’s ongoing investigations into unlicensed labour provision on fruit farms in County Armagh, according to the GLA.

Without a licence

Announcing the arrest, the GLA said the individual was suspected of supplying workers to pick apples and other fruit without a licence at various locations in the area – activities requiring a GLA licence.

He has been released pending reports being submitted to the Public Prosecution Service.

Providing workers for roles in agriculture, horticulture and food processing and packaging without a GLA licence was a criminal offence that carried a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, said the GLA.