Europol has arrested 39 people on suspicion of people smuggling across the Channel, including six in the Netherlands. In doing so, the European police force has broken up ‘one of the most active criminal networks smuggling migrants across the English Channel in small boats’, it said. Europol in a press conference on Tuesday† Three detainees are in the picture as prime suspects.
In addition to the Netherlands, the arrests also took place in Germany (eighteen arrests), France (nine) and the United Kingdom (six). 1,200 life jackets were also seized, along with 150 dinghies, nearly 50 motorcycles, €40,000 in cash, firearms, cars and drugs. The smugglers allegedly made each migrant pay between €2,500 and €3,000 in exchange for the crossing from France to the UK.
It would be a ‘well-structured’ criminal network that smuggled migrants mainly from the Middle East and East Africa to the United Kingdom and had been active since October 2020. From the Netherlands and Germany, the suspects mainly prepared the logistical and organizational components of the smuggling operations, Europol said. The suspects in the UK are said to have been involved in the financial organization of the network.