TWO possible cases of human trafficking were recorded in the first three months of this year in Gwent.

The figures, which reveal the extent of human trafficking in the UK, were released by the National Crime Agency. They show a total of 566 possible cases of human trafficking were recorded between January and March.

Gwent Police referred two people to the National Referral Mechanism, a process set up by the Government to identify and support victims of trafficking in the UK.

As of July 7, 195 of the 566 people referred were found to have definitely been trafficked, with 223 of the 566 people still awaiting a conclusive decision.

There were 258 adult women, 134 adult men, 102 girls and 72 boys referred as being potential victims.

Of the 566 referrals made nationally, 15 people were from Wales.

People from Albania, Bangladesh, China, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Latvia, Mali, Poland, Sri Lanka, UK and Vietnam were referred from Wales as being potential victims of human trafficking.

Of the 15 potential Welsh victims, one had definitely been trafficked with six still awaiting a decision.

Five of the potential Welsh victims had been referred for labour exploitation, three for sexual exploitation, three for domestic servitude and two for unknown exploitation.

Nationally, the most common reason for an adult being trafficked was for sexual exploitation, with 160 people referred, labour exploitation, with 143 and 49 people referred for domestic servitude.

There was one case of a person being trafficked for organ harvesting during this period.

Twenty-six police forces identified possible cases including Gwent Police.

Last year, 1,746 potential trafficking victims were found in the UK, an increase of 47 per cent on the previous 12 months.

If the number of cases in the first three months of 2014 continues for the rest of the year, there will be a 30 per cent increase on 2013.