A second person has been arrested as part of a nationwide police crackdown at airports launched to save girls from female genital mutilation.
The 44-year-old man was detained in Swansea on suspicion of conspiring to commit FGM on a 13-year-old girl who returned to Heathrow on a flight from Sierra Leone.
A 38-year-old woman who was travelling with the girl had already been arrested and questioned by Met detectives on the suspicion of committing the same offence.
Both the woman, a British citizen born in Sierra Leone, and the man have been bailed until the end of June. The girl, from Sierra Leone, has been taken temporarily into care.
Detective Chief Superintendent Keith Niven, the head of Scotland Yard’s sexual and child abuse command, said: “This operation sends out a clear message that FGM will not be tolerated in the UK. We encourage any person who has been subjected to FGM or who may be at risk of this happening to them to contact the police on 999 or on 020 7161 2888.”
The arrests follow the launch last week of Operation Limelight under which police have been checking passengers travelling to and from countries where FGM is practised.
As well as detecting potential offenders, the initiative was also intended to deter parents and others from trying to take their children overseas.
It has been illegal to carry out FGM in this country since 1985. Further legislation in 2003 made it a crime for a girl to be taken abroad to be mutilated.