Four men have been charged with slavery offences relating to four people found at the Greenacres travellers' site in Bedfordshire.
The men, all from the same family of travellers, were charged with conspiracy to holding a person in servitude and requiring them to perform forced labour.
The charges follow an investigation by the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit and relate to alleged offences against four male victims at the Greenacres travellers' site in Bedfordshire.
The CPS named the men charged as Tommy Connors, 30, Patrick Connors, 19, James (Big Jim) Connors, 34, and James (Jimmy) Connors, 23, all of Greenacres caravan site, in Great Billington, Leighton Buzzard.
Adrian Roberts, head of the CPS Thames and Chiltern Complex Casework Unit, said: "These charges relate to four victims who allege they have been held against their will and forced to live and work like slaves.
"Police investigations into other offences relating to other potential victims at Greenacres are ongoing, further to the police raid on Sunday, September 11."
The four men will appear at Luton Magistrates' Court tomorrow.
More than 200 officers were involved in raids on the Greenacre site yesterday, during which weapons, drugs and money were also uncovered.
17 of the men held were British, three were from Poland and the other four were from Russia and Romania.
Police believe some of the men appeared to have been ‘recruited’ from soup kitchens and benefits offices and may have had problems such as alcoholism.
Detective Chief Inspector Sean O'Neil, from the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire major crime unit, said: "The men we found at the site were in a poor state of physical health and the conditions they were living in were shockingly filthy and cramped.
"We believe that some of them had been living and working there in a state of virtual slavery, some for just a few weeks and others for up to 15 years.
"Because of the number of victims and suspects and the size of the site, we needed the assistance of many officers from specialist units today. We are aware the operation has caused a lot of disruption to the other residents of the site and we thank them for their cooperation and understanding."
