The operation includes a poster campaign aimed at potential victims

Scottish officers will join colleagues from England, Wales and Northern Ireland in Operation Pentameter.

Alongside the disruption of trafficking the operation will also include support for victims arriving in the UK.

Passengers arriving at Prestwick Airport on Tuesday on a flight from Poland will be the first in Scotland to encounter Operation Pentameter.

Officers will hand out leaflets in Polish asking if passengers have travelled willingly.

Forces said they were responding to issues such as the hundreds of women who travel to the UK each year believing they will gain employment, but instead find they have been tricked by international crime gangs into the sex trade.

There have been a number of cases in Scotland where women have managed to escape from traffickers, including one Ugandan woman who was found wandering in Leith in Edinburgh, unaware which country she was in.

Officers will give support to the victims of human trafficking

Bill Skelly from the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (Acpos) said the trade was nothing more than "modern day slavery".

"Those involved are serious criminals, the large amount of cash generated by their activity is used to fund other criminal activities," he said.

The National Immigration Service will work with the 55 police forces across the UK to gather intelligence on gangs and to protect and support their victims.

In Scotland the operation will be co-ordinated by the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency (SDEA), which is now tackling all organised crime, including human trafficking and money laundering.