Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA) took several individuals into custody on March 30, on suspicion of assisting migrant smugglers. Further arrests connected to that case took place in France with the help of European anti-crime agencies.
The UK and its European partners have been clamping down on the operations of a criminal migrant smuggling group operating across continents.
The NCA specified that it had apprehended a 25-year-old woman from the Welsh town of Wrexham as well as a 25-year-old man from the northern English city of Newcastle; the two are accused of helping smugglers by laundering money for them.
Officials also apprehended a 26-year-old man in the central English city of Birmingham, who is suspected of managing the accommodation of irregular migrants coming to Britain; they specified that in this case, the arrest warrant had been issued by authorities in France and the suspect is now awaiting extradition, further highlighting the international nature of the case.
Further arrests across France
Meanwhile, police in Paris announced that they've arrested another 16 people in connection with the case in and around Paris during a series of raids which were supported by the EU agencies Europol and Eurojust as well as the Belgian federal police.
In those operations, officials also discovered 41 irregular migrants, including 11 who were housed in one of the properties that were raided.
The arrests were reportedly connected to another operation from last month, during which five men were taken into custody across northern England.
The NCA senior investigating officer in the case, Alex Cruise, commented on the arrests that these were a "great example of partnership working with our colleagues in France to tackle the groups behind dangerous crossings to the UK."
"Such journeys put those being moved at great risk and undermine border security," he added.
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From Vietnam to France to Britain
The transnational criminal gang is suspected of moving migrants coming mainly from Vietnam on commercial flights routed to eastern and central Europe.
As their modus operandi, it is believed that upon arrival in Europe, the migrants would be moved on clandestine journeys to France and then ultimately to the UK — using not only small boat journeys but also stowaway trips on lorries.
The NCA also highlighted that the smuggling ring is believed to routinely hang on to the migrants' passports while they were paying off their debts for their irregular journeys.
NCA officer Cruise further commented that "this is one of approximately 100 ongoing investigations targeting groups or individuals both directly involved in organizing journeys, or those who facilitate that criminality," adding that "tackling people-smuggling remains a top priority for the NCA."