Saskatchewan Trucking Association launches human trafficking and fraud prevention campaign

A new province-wide campaign is targeting human trafficking, fraud, and exploitation in Saskatchewan’s trucking industry.

A province-wide campaign has been launched to prevent human trafficking and fraud within the trucking industry in Saskatchewan.

In partnership with the Saskatchewan Trucking Association (STA) and Saskatchewan Crime Stoppers the initiative aims at combating exploitation and human trafficking, fraudulent activity, and fraudulent documents within the trucking industry.

As part of the campaign, semi drivers will display decals on the back of their trailers stating “See Something, Say Something.”

“We are out there on the roads, traveling, not just throughout Saskatchewan and across Canada, but throughout North America with many of our carriers. That gives us a unique opportunity to see all kinds of stuff,” said STA board chair Rob Ruiters.

Ruiters added that having a credible avenue, such as Saskatchewan Crime Stoppers, to report any suspicious behaviour made the most sense.

“The beauty of the Crime Stoppers is it works anywhere. If I call that number here in Saskatchewan it goes to the Saskatchewan Crime Stoppers. If I call that number in Arizona it goes to a local crime stoppers down there. The number works,” he explained.

Aero Delivery is one of the trucking organizations who will have the decals on display. Brett Marcoux, president of Aero Delivery, said the campaign helps spread awareness about human trafficking and issues pertaining to fraudulent trucking activity.

“Our vehicles are traveling billboards. All it takes is for one person to see this and it raises awareness that maybe it wasn’t there before,” Marcoux said. “There’s going to be hundreds and thousands of eyes on these things all the time. I believe it has the opportunity to be very effective.”

On Monday, Saskatchewan Crime Stoppers said it was pleased to partner with STA on the initiative in effort to combat and draw attention to the issue.

“Human trafficking in general is an epidemic. It’s just that not a lot of attention has been brought to it in the past,” said Sgt. James Flynn, police coordinator for Saskatchewan Crime Stoppers.

“It is starting to gain traction now. I know the RCMP in Saskatchewan has just developed the human trafficking team. They’re well underway to curtailing what they can.”

Drivers are encouraged to report any suspicious activity anonymously through Saskatchewan Crime Stoppers.

To submit an anonymous tip, contact Crime Stoppers Saskatchewan at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or visit Saskatchewan Crimestoppers.

More details to come…