(AFP) European police have busted a human smuggling ring said to be part of a network transporting thousands of migrants in life-threatening conditions across the Channel to Britain.
Law officers, working together with Europe’s policing and judicial agencies Europol and Eurojust, arrested 12 suspected smugglers 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 vehicles, 10 rubber boats and engines, 152 life jackets, a caravan, a boat trailer, jewellery, about 48,000 euros ($56,000) in cash, documents and mobile devices, Eurojust added.
