Two people have been arrested after immigration raids in Arbroath and Perthshire.
Officers from the licensing department of Police Scotland’s Tayside Division, along with the Home Office immigration enforcement team, carried out raids on Thursday.
One of the raids was at the Route 66 Car Wash on Arbroath’s Elgin Place.
A 31-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman were arrested in Arbroath and detained on suspicion of overstaying in the UK.
According to the Home Office, the business could face a civil penalty if it was found to have employed illegal workers or failed to conduct the relevant pre-employment checks.
Police Scotland has not confirmed the exact location of the Perthshire raid.
‘Illegal working causes untold harm to communities’
Constable Darren Smith from the Tayside Divisional licensing team said: “The initiative focused on visiting premises to conduct licensing inspections and to identify any safeguarding and welfare issues.
“The Tayside Divisional licensing team are proactive in their approach and will continue to conduct inspections at licensed premises throughout the Tayside area.”
A Home Office spokesperson added: “Illegal working causes untold harm to our communities, cheating honest workers out of employment, putting vulnerable people at risk, and defrauding the public purse.
“Illegal working visits are up by more than 68% on last year and arrests have more than doubled, with more people arrested in 2023 than during the whole of 2022 because of this activity.
“We are also removing those with no right to be in the UK.”
