In a major international operation, UK, French, and German authorities have dismantled an organised crime group (OCG) responsible for smuggling migrants to the UK via dangerous small-boat crossings in the Channel.
The operation, led by the French National Police unit OLTIM and supported by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA), resulted in 13 arrests and the seizure of vital smuggling equipment.
On Wednesday, 4 December, approximately 500 German police officers carried out raids in North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg. The coordinated effort led to the arrest of suspected senior members of the network and the confiscation of 21 boats, 24 engines, life jackets, pumps, and cash.
The smuggling network had been sourcing and storing equipment in Germany before transporting it to the Channel for illegal crossings.
The NCA played a crucial role by providing intelligence on the gang’s activities, helping to target key figures within the operation. Collaborating with law enforcement agencies from Belgium and the Netherlands, the task force was coordinated through Europol and Eurojust, showcasing the strength of international cooperation in tackling organised crime.
Tom Outhwaite, NCA International Regional Manager, highlighted the significance of the operation:
“The operation has demonstrated the benefits of working internationally to target these OCGs, and we are grateful to our French and German partners for what they have done. We believe the action undertaken here will have significantly degraded a people smuggling network impacting the UK, which has been directly responsible for putting lives at risk in boats on the Channel.”
Those arrested in Germany now face extradition to France for further legal proceedings. This collaborative effort underscores the commitment of European law enforcement to dismantle networks that exploit vulnerable individuals while putting lives at risk.
Outhwaite further spoke on the NCA’s dedication:
“Targeting, disrupting and dismantling these gangs remains a priority for the NCA, and we are devoting more resources to doing that than ever before. That includes additional officers working overseas in locations where criminal networks are active to assist on operations like this.”
Good stuff. They really all need to be put away in prison for very long sentences, make it a life sentence as a deterrent.
I suspect for every one you put away there will be ten to take their place even if you re-introduced hanging – but we will see. The solution here lies is persuading the migrants not to come that means changing their place of origin into a pleasant place to live and work. A vast quantity of the world population seem to be on the move. Ultimately the developed world must help them fix their current home – unless someone has a better idea.
Positive news. This needs to be coordinated European wide enterprise, but would be even more effective with a revised ECHR, taking its intentions back to to its origins
Oh, Europol working in cooperation does what it can really do as opposed to bullsh!t bollocks by The Bluffer Johnson and Faking Farage, long live Brexit and the retards that voted for it.
The worst economic crime committed against the UK was Brexit and if Johnson and Farage, et al, were hung from lamp posts al la Mussolini style, it wouldn’t be soon enough.
Looking at you Jason Fancy them all, tup them all.
WELL DONE YOU GUYS! Fabulous news, it’s amazing what we can achieve if we work together.
PLEASE give them the maximum sentences, they care not for the lives of these refugees they put at risk, all they want is money! … And don’t be soft on ‘how much’ each person was involved, they ALL played a part…. Plus IF they don’t have European passports, deport them, they are no use to a decent society..
(Take every single bit of property they own too)
… Just a quick thought, if Europe had to register the sale of boats/motors or even life jackets jackets etc, (or at the manufacturing level as well as the ‘kite mark’, it would make it a little easier for the authorities to track down) …. (a similar way they do guns in the US, it would slow down these criminal gangs, I know that nothing will stop them but the most we can do is slow them down/make it more difficult.