THE jailing of the international sex trafficking gang which operated out of a Croydon internet cafe is only the "thin edge of the wedge", according to one of the investigators on the case.
Last week, four men and one woman were sentenced to between three and six years for trafficking up to 60 women from Hungary and forcing them to work as prostitutes.
Former partners Mate Puskas, 26, and Victoria Brown, 25, ran the operation out of the Cyberspace internet cafe in Surrey Street until they were arrested in September 2012, along with Zoltan Mohacsi, 36. Two other men, Istvan and Peter Toth, are still on the run.
Glenn Taylor, who worked on the case for the Home Office, told the Advertiser he had "no confidence" trafficking had been stamped out in Croydon.
"The investigation is still on-going," he said. "There was a list of co-conspirators which we are still collecting evidence on.
"This case is very much the thin edge of the wedge for trafficking in the area."
Mr Taylor said the women, who were working in nearby hotels, were often seen in the cafe.
Brown and Puskas, who have a 21-month-old son Theo, also owned a property a few doors down from the cafe where the women would often stay.
"They very much used the cafe as a front for what they were doing and as a administration base but the women were often there too," Mr Taylor said.
"Trafficking has to entail servitude and abuse and I have no confidence this is the end of it in the area."
Hamed Shahabuddin, who runs a market stall opposite the building the women often stayed at in Surrey Street, said the operation had been running for months before the police arrived.
"There were girls coming in and out, it was obvious what was going on," he said.
"There were lots of rumours going around and every Friday night as we packed up, they would come out onto the street and approach men."
Ali Hassan, who runs a stall nearby, said police walked past the property every day.
He said: "They probably knew and were waiting for the right time to make a raid. Who knows if it has all stopped, it's difficult to see behind closed doors."
Croydon police have said they pass any information given to them by the public over to a specialist unit, which was formed in 2010.
A spokesman said: "Where local officers are given information or intelligence about the possible presence of human trafficking, this information will be passed on to the specialist MPS Human Trafficking Unit, who build up a picture of organised trafficking in London and regularly carry out operations across London."
Croydon police officers also go to a monthly trafficking forum with representatives from the council and charities, including the Croydon Community Against Trafficking (CCAT) group, to share information.
Peter Cox, who set up CCAT, said: "What we really want to know is why it took so long to arrest those people.
"We know Croydon is vulnerable to trafficking so what are the police doing to help stop it?"
