Three Britons arrested in bust on suspected people smuggling ring

Three Britons have been arrested after a Europe-wide probe into people trafficking busted a gang of 12 people suspected of transporting migrants across the Channel. 

Two men and a woman aged between 33 and 40 were held in London on suspicion of assisting unlawful immigration.

Two others were held in Calais and seven in Holland. The gang ferried migrants in high-speed rigid inflatable boats (RIBs) at £3,000 a person. 

The arrests follow a surge in crossings to the UK this year, hitting a record of almost 7,000.

Three Britons have been arrested after a Europe-wide probe into people trafficking busted a gang of 12 people suspected of transporting migrants across the Channel. Pictured: Some of the cash seized in raids on the suspects homes

The bust was conducted by law officers working together with Europe’s policing and judicial agencies Europol and Eurojus who made the arrests over the last two days, British interior minster Priti Patel and the Hague-based Eurojust said in statements on Wednesday.

‘Yesterday, 12 people were arrested in France, the Netherlands and the UK as part of a joint operation targeting a gang engaged in smuggling people across the Channel in small boats,’ Patel said.

Police also seized 12 cars, 10 rubber boats and engines, 152 life jackets, a caravan, a boat trailer, jewellery, about £40,000 (€48,000) in cash, documents and mobile devices, Eurojust added.

The bust was conducted by law officers working together with Europe's policing and judicial agencies Europol and Eurojus who made the arrests over the last two days, British interior minster Priti Patel and the Hague-based Eurojust said in statements on Wednesday (stock photo)

The bust was conducted by law officers working together with Europe’s policing and judicial agencies Europol and Eurojus who made the arrests over the last two days, British interior minster Priti Patel and the Hague-based Eurojust said in statements on Wednesday (stock photo)

Those arrested are suspected of being part of a mainly Iranian smuggling gang based in France, the Netherlands and Britain, organising their activities through their ties in the various countries and social media.

‘The network is believed to have made huge profits from smuggling migrants in small boats from the north coasts of France to Britain,’ charging an average of 3,000 euros per crossing, Eurojust said.

‘Transporting migrants in overloaded boats, often in very difficult weather conditions on one of the busiest commercial shipping lanes in the world, endangered the lives of both the migrants and also the law enforcement officers conducting sea rescue operations,’ it said.

Eurojust said illegal migrant-smuggling activity has ‘increased exponentially’ in recent months with over 4,600 irregular migrants detected since 2018 on British shores.

Police also seized 12 cars, 10 rubber boats and engines, 152 life jackets, a caravan, a boat trailer, jewellery, about £40,000 (€48,000) in cash, documents and mobile devices, Eurojust added

Police also seized 12 cars, 10 rubber boats and engines, 152 life jackets, a caravan, a boat trailer, jewellery, about £40,000 (€48,000) in cash, documents and mobile devices, Eurojust added

It comes amid reports that people traffickers have slashed prices of Channel crossings to Britain from around £4,500 to £450, the National Crime Agency said yesterday.

Desperate migrants are being supplied with kayaks, toy dinghies and some have even tried using paddling pools to make the treacherous crossing.

The NCA said prices had fallen as the level of overcrowding on traffickers’ vessels had ‘risen significantly’ in recent months. 

Tighter travel rules during the pandemic have restricted other routes into the country such as hiding in the back of lorries, forcing more migrants onto small and dangerous boats, the NCA’s deputy director Matthew Long said in a briefing.

It comes amid reports that people traffickers have slashed prices of Channel crossings to Britain from around £4,500 to £450, the National Crime Agency said yesterday

It comes amid reports that people traffickers have slashed prices of Channel crossings to Britain from around £4,500 to £450, the National Crime Agency said yesterday

‘With an overloaded vessel and the wave height… quite often these vessels are filling with water and baling out,’ added NCA colleague Steven Dann.

‘Within that is vomit and sometimes fuel, we’ve had people whose skin has been burnt by the fuel,’ he added.

‘When you see these migrants coming, it’s upsetting. You see women and children coming off these boats shivering, hypothermic.’

Organised crime gangs were also using the crossings to smuggle firearms, they added.

However, some of the worst incidents did not involve organised crime networks, but rather those desperately trying to make their own way across the treacherous waters.

‘We’ve had a paddling pool you buy at (British high street store) Argos,’ Dann said of one of the attempted crossings.

The joint operation comes as French police on Tuesday dismantled a camp of about 800 migrants in the port city of Calais.

‘The French at the moment are intercepting over 50 percent of events taking place, they’re making every effort to prevent these crossings,’ said Dann.

Calais continues to attract migrants from the Middle East and Africa who set up makeshift camps along France’s northern coast from where they hope to make the passage to Britain.

Since January 1, French authorities have intercepted at least 1,317 migrants as they tried to reach the UK, some by swimming across the busy waterway.

In August, a Sudanese teenager drowned while trying to reach Britain with a friend in an inflatable boat.  

Leave a Comment