LONDON, Feb 18 (Reuters) - British police are assessing whether Jeffrey Epstein trafficked women through a London airport on private flights, part of a now nationally coordinated effort to investigate the late sex offender's ties to Britain.
Essex Police said on Wednesday they were looking at information that had emerged about private flights into and out of Stansted Airport, to the northeast of London, following the publication by the U.S. government of millions of documents on Epstein at the end of January.
Its assessment, which does not constitute a full investigation,comes after British police set up a national coordination group to support individual forces examining Epstein's ties to Britain or British people.
"We continue to work collaboratively to assess the details being made public to allow us to understand any potential impact arising from the millions of documents that have been published," the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said in a statement.
FURORE IN BRITAIN
The Epstein furore has already had a major impact in Britain.
Two police forces are looking into the former British ambassador to the U.S., Peter Mandelson, and the younger brother of King Charles, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, over allegations of misconduct in public office. The Epstein files suggested both had forwarded confidential government documents to the late U.S. financier.
Both men have denied any wrongdoing and said they regret their friendships with Epstein, but they have not responded to specific requests for comment after the latest files were published.
The BBC reported last year that incomplete flight logs and manifests recorded that 87 flights linked to Epstein had arrived or departed from British airports between the early 1990s and 2018, with unidentified "females" listed among the passengers.
Documents in the Epstein files show multiple references to Stansted, including one that discussed whether a Russian woman with a U.S. visa could switch planes at the airport. The files also include tens of references to UK visas.
Stansted Airport said in a statement that private flights were not managed by the terminal it operates, and that Border Force was responsible for immigration and customs checks.
According to Border Force rules, all individuals arriving in Britain are subject to thorough checks.
(Reporting by Muvija M; additional reporting by Sam Tabahriti; writing by Kate Holton)
