Nearly 170 people, mostly women and girls, have been rescued from people traffickers in the largest-ever crackdown of its kind.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said 167 people were uncovered in just six months and 528 suspected traffickers arrested during Operation Pentameter Two.

Victims, some of which are believed to be children, are brought to the UK and sold as commodities for sexual exploitation or forced labour. Some women snared by human traffickers can be forced to have sex with up to 40 men a day by violent pimps.

A total of 55 police forces across the UK and the Republic of Ireland took part in the project.

Ms Smith said: "Human trafficking is a despicable crime, perpetrated by organised criminal gangs whose business is to make money from human misery.

"Pentameter Two has been a great success. It is an excellent example of partnership working and I would commend all those involved who have made a real impact in rescuing victims and bringing to justice those who exploit them."

The first Operation Pentameter in 2006 lasted four months and rescued 88 victims including a dozen children aged 14 to 17, and made 232 arrests.

Officers in the first phase executed warrants in 515 brothels, massage parlours, private homes and other premises across the UK and Ireland.

Ms Smith said: "Human trafficking has no place in modern society and I am absolutely determined that we continue to take tough action to disrupt these criminal gangs.

"As a signal of this commitment the Government signed the Council of Europe Convention on Human Trafficking last year and will ratify it by the end of this year."

The agreement will grant freed victims of human trafficking the right to stay in Britain for up to 30 days, even if here illegally.

The Government has also handed £4.5 million to the Poppy project for trafficked and exploited women over the last five years, plus an additional £1.3 million this year for specialist victim support.

In March last year the Home Office warned that the 2012 London Olympics would be a magnet for criminal gangs seeking to traffic sex slaves and other illegal workers into Britain.

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