Family-run human trafficking gang forced 16 slavery victims to work at McDonald's and factory supplying major supermarkets - and went undetected for years By Aidan Radnedge Published: 09:08, 30 September 2024 | Updated: 09:12, 30 September 2024 e-mail View comments A family-run human trafficking gang went undetected for years as it forced 16 slavery victims to toil at McDonald's and a factory supplying major supermarkets. Ernest Drevenak and Veronika Bubencikova, both 46, were found to have started exploiting the men from the Czech Republic in 2015 - but were only caught in 2019. Drevenak is said to have run the gang alongside his brother Zdenek.
Their victims - who were homeless , unemployed or in very low-paid jobs in the Czech Republic - had been brought to the UK with the promise of a better life. Some were then put to work in Caxton, Cambridgeshire, at a branch of McDonald's - with the fast food chain now promising it had improved systems to spot 'potential risks'. Others were made to work for a factory providing bread for high street supermarkets, a BBC investigation found .
A gang forced 16 human trafficking victims to work at a McDonald's branch and a bread factory, a probe has found - including two (pictured) who have waived their anonymity Two brothers Ernest and Zdenek Drevenak have been convicted for leading the slavery gang Nine of the victims were put to work at a branch of McDonald's in Caxton, Cambridgeshire There were 16 slavery victims, the corporation revea.
