International operation breaks Iraqi people-smuggling gang

Authorities suspect the group has been directly responsible for putting lives at risk in boats on the English Channel

A migrant carries her children after being helped ashore from a lifeboat at a beach in Dungeness, England, on November 24, 2021. AFP

A major international investigation involving the UK, France and Germany has resulted in the arrests of 13 people suspected of being involved in a migrant-smuggling network, Britain's National Crime Agency has said.

The operation focused on an Iraqi organised crime group that authorities suspected of being involved in smuggling people from France across the English Channel to the UK in small boats, according to the NCA.

The group is accused of providing equipment for the crossings – including inflatable boats, engines and lifejackets – which would be stored in Germany before being taken to the Channel when needed, the agency said.

About 500 German police officers carried out a series of raids in the North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden Wuerttemberg regions on Wednesday, resulting in 13 arrests in Germany and France, while 21 boats and 24 engines were seized alongside life jackets, pumps and cash.

Some of those detained in Germany on December 4 are suspected of being senior members of the organised crime group and now face extradition to France, the NCA said.

The investigation was led by French police with the UK’s NCA providing support, including intelligence on the gang’s routes, the agency said.

Law enforcement partners from Belgium and the Netherlands were also involved in the operation.

“The operation has demonstrated the benefits of working internationally to target these [organised crime gangs], and we are grateful to our French and German partners for what they have done," NCA international regional manager Tom Outhwaite said.

“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.

Migrants try to cross the Channel from France - in pictures

“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.”