Interim Slavery and Trafficking Risk Orders extended

Seven people who were arrested in relation to serious offences involving members of a religious group in Crewe have now had their Interim Slavery and Trafficking Risk Orders extended.

An application to extend the orders was granted at Chester Magistrates Court on 22 October 2026. The extension of these civil orders provides continued restrictions which enable us to continue managing the suspects and ensure there is no risk to the public and other members of the group.

 The arrests were part of an ongoing investigation which began in March 2026 when Cheshire Police were made aware of allegations of serious sexual offences, forced marriage and modern slavery, involving members of a religious group called the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light.

This has since raised concerns in relation to the welfare of children who were members of the group.

Fourteen suspects were arrested in total as part of the investigation. Of those, 13 remain on conditional bail, with conditions preventing them from entering Crewe. One suspect has since been released with no further action.

Detective Inspector Eli Atkinson, of the Major Investigation Team at Cheshire Police, said:

“I welcome the granting of our application to extend the orders, and I hope that they provide some reassurance to the local community.

“Our priority is always the safety of the public, and while our investigation continues, these orders will provide additional restrictions to ensure there is no risk to the public and other members of the group.

“I would also like to reiterate that this is not an investigation into the religion, our investigation solely focuses on the serious allegations which have been reported to us.

“I’d also remind residents that this remains a live investigation which will take some time, and I would ask that people do not speculate while the case remains ongoing."

Under the terms of the orders Abdullah Hashem, 43 (American); Ali Muhammad, 36 (British); Veronica Carla Esponda, 45 (Italian); Eyad Elkhouly, 45 (German); Kevin Omar Rodriguez-Ponce, 30 (Mexican); Sajid Khokar, 48 (British) and Vanessa Gardee Vega, 54 (Mexican), are all required to comply with the following conditions:

• Not to enter Crewe
• Not to contact the victim
• Not to have any unsupervised contact with any children aged under 18 without the consent of the child’s parent or guardian and with the express approval of Social Services for the area.
• Not to travel into or out of the United Kingdom in the company of any person save for his biological children
• No to organise any transport and/or accommodation for any person other than their biological children
• Arranging, facilitating or participating in any arrangement whereby individuals are required or encouraged to reside in any accommodation under their control or influence.
• Not to be in possession of any original or copy identity documents save those pertaining to themselves
• Not to be in possession or control of any bank card, payment card, sim card or mobile phone belonging to another person
• Not to reside at an address in the UK for more than 24 hours without reporting his whereabouts to the police
• Not to apply for, obtain or being in possession of any passport, national identity card or other travel document for the duration of this order
• Must surrender any passport, national identity card or other travel document issued in his name to a constable within 24 hours of this order being made.