"Unspotted" slavery: Gang exploited victims at McDonald’s and major bakery

Signs that modern slavery victims were forced to work at a McDonald’s branch and a bakery supplying major UK supermarkets went unnoticed for years.

The gang, which exploited 16 individuals, coerced them into working at either the fast-food restaurant or a factory providing products for Asda, Co-op, M&S, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and Waitrose, Caliber.Az reports, citing UK media.

The victims, all from the Czech Republic, endured severe exploitation over more than four years, with evidence of their situation overlooked. Dame Sara Thornton, former independent anti-slavery commissioner, expressed her concern: “It really concerns me that so many red flags were missed, and that maybe the companies didn’t do enough to protect vulnerable workers.”

At the McDonald’s in Caxton, Cambridgeshire, nine victims were found working under conditions of severe exploitation, while nine others worked at a pitta bread factory in Hoddesdon and Tottenham. Many of the victims had experienced homelessness or addiction prior to their trafficking. Despite earning at least the legal minimum wage, their pay was almost entirely seized by the gang.

“They treated their victims like livestock,” said Detective Inspector Melanie Lillywhite from the Metropolitan Police. “They fed them just enough to keep them going.” Victims lived in dire conditions, including a leaking shed and an unheated caravan, subsisting on a few pounds a day.

The gang, led by brothers Ernest and Zdenek Drevenak, exercised control through intimidation and violence, confiscating passports and isolating victims from the outside world. Pavel, a victim who has waived his anonymity, described the manipulative tactics employed: “If we were to escape and go home, [Ernest Drevenak] has a lot of friends in our town; half the town were his mates.”

Despite working extreme hours—up to 70 to 100 a week—many victims received only a few pounds in cash from their exploiters. Pavel recounted his harrowing experience: “You can’t undo the damage to my mental health; it will always live with me.”

The exploitation ended in October 2019 when victims reached out to the police in the Czech Republic, prompting British authorities to take action. However, Det Sgt Chris Acourt, who led the investigation, lamented the missed opportunities to detect the slavery sooner: “Ultimately, we could have been in a situation to end that exploitation much earlier had we been made aware.”

The investigation uncovered several undetected red flags, including victims’ wages being deposited into bank accounts belonging to others and multiple employees sharing the same registered address. Despite these indicators, the exploitation continued for years.

McDonald’s UK has since stated that it has improved systems for identifying “potential risks” in its operations. Meanwhile, the British Retail Consortium acknowledged the need for its members to learn from this case to better protect vulnerable workers.

Reflecting on his experience, Pavel voiced his disappointment with McDonald’s: “I do feel partially exploited by McDonald’s because they didn’t act. I thought if I was working for McDonald’s, they would be a little bit more cautious; that they will notice it.”

By Khagan Isayev