David Batstone
The Courier-Mail (Australia)
04/11/2008
It may be more than 200 years since there was a legalised slave trade, but today the illicit trade in humans is thriving.
It is estimated that more than 27 million people are trafficked or enslaved in an industry worth almost $US31 billion ($A33.3 billion). It is growing so fast it is third in size to the black market for drugs and arms...
If you eat chocolate or drive a well-known brand of car with tyres from one of the bigger-name companies, chances are these products have raw ingredients linked to human slavery, exploitation and trafficking.