Photo credit: Reuters
European police forces in recent weeks have dismantled a migrant smuggling network that brought people from Vietnam across the European Union (EU) to Britain, earning itself up to three million euros in recent years, the EU law enforcement co-operation agency Europol said on Thursday (April 9).
Asia One reports that eight people were arrested in France, Germany and Hungary on March 29 and 30, including the alleged leader and a “high-level” organizer of the network that targeted Vietnamese nationals seeking to reach Britain and organized the whale journey for them, Europol said.
Migrantas were first smuggled into the EU’s free-travel zone on Hungarian-issued short-stay visas or residence permits and were then flown to France.
There, they were put in accommodation around Paris and later transported to the coast in northern France, from where they made the crossing to Britain in small inflatable boats organized by a Kurdish-Iraqi migrant smuggling network, Europol said.
The networks together were seen to have transported at least 15 migrants per month, charging them up to 22,000 euros for the full journey.
Thousands of migrants cross the Channel every year, as social media and other online services make it relatively easy for smuggling networks to promote their services and hide their profits.
