Arrests follow people-smuggling investigation

Metropolitan Police have arrested nineteen people suspected of involvement in a people-smuggling ring, in a series of early morning raids.

Eighteen people were arrested during raids at 12 residential and business areas in Enfield, Bexleyheath, Barnet, Hackney, Hammersmith, Haringey and Tower Hamlets in London. Another suspect was arrested in a residential address in Boston, Lincolnshire.

Eight men were arrested on suspicion of facilitating people smuggling. Two women, believed to be the wives of two of the suspects, were also arrested on suspicion of attempting to interfere with the inquiry.

Another six people were arrested on suspicion of immigration offences, two on suspicion of theft and one on suspicion of money-laundering offences.

The arrests were part of Operation Bluesky, an investigation into a pan-European human trafficking ring, which also involved police forces in Italy, France, Holland, Belgium and Denmark.

It is believed that the network may have smuggled around 200,000 people – mainly Turkish Kurds – into the UK.

It is thought that the illegal immigrants – who are believed to have paid between £3,000 and £5,000 to be brought to the UK – were smuggled into the country in groups of 20, concealed in lorries and cars aboard ferries.

Once in Britain, it is thought that many of the immigrants began working in the black market economy in London, amongst the capital’s Turkish community.

The alleged network is thought to have made its ringleaders millions of pounds, some of which is believed to have been invested in businesses such as snooker halls and cafes.

Scotland Yard Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur said that Tuesday’s raids were aimed “right at the top of the network”.

Metropolitan Police also confirmed that a substantial amount of cash, believed to amount to hundreds of thousands of pounds, was also recovered during the raids.

(KMcA/SP)