Cindi Cook
January 23, 2020•Update: January 23, 2020
PARIS
Authorities from France and The Netherlands disbanded a major migrant smuggling ring to the United Kingdom, making 23 arrests. 19 suspects were arrested in France and four in The Netherlands in the vicinity of The Hague on Wednesday, according to officials.
Those arrested are suspected of illegally transporting approximately 10,000 Kurdish migrants to the U.K. in small rubber boats and refrigerated trucks, from parking areas in France. The actions carried out by the authorities included the searching of five different locations.
The investigations were taken in cooperation with Eurojust, the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation, which aids in the fight against crime across borders bringing authorities together in joint efforts and operations.
During the investigations, initiated by French authorities in Aug. 2018, Eurojust reports that the network was found to be picking up migrants at rest areas between Le Mans and Poitiers. Suspects were also spotted using vehicles with Dutch license plates, which led to opening up the case to the Netherlands.
In a statement on the Eurojust website, the organization outlined their "financing of a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) and the establishing of a coordination center to support both countries' authorities in initiating their actions." Eurojust says they also provided support with the execution of European arrest warrants.
The smuggling network reportedly charged fares to the migrants of 7,000 euro ($8,500) per person, with total profits amounting to 70 million euro ($85 million).
The statement on the Eurojust website further detailed that "Europol provided analytical support during the operation, with the action successfully carried out by the International Specialised Jurisdisction of Rennes and BMRZ mobile brigade of the French border police, along with the Dutch Koninklijke Marechaussee, the specialized FINEC unit of the national police, and the Dutch immigration services."
It is reported that a link was also discovered to a suspect running an illegal hawala banking system in the Netherlands, partly used for the payment of transporting the migrants.
