European police agency Europol said on Tuesday it had dismantled an
Iraqi-run people smuggling ring that had transported hundreds of
illegal immigrants from Belgium to Britain.
Belgian police arrested nine people on Tuesday, most of them from
Iraq, in the smuggling crackdown which also turned up four illegal
immigrants, Europol said.
The agency said immigrants had paid the criminal network 1,500 euros
each to be concealed in the back of lorries with no guarantee of safe
arrival in the UK.
They originated from countries such as
Afghanistan, China, Iraq and Vietnam and travelled from Turkey to
Belgium on a smuggling route that took them through Greece, Italy, and
central Europe, Europol said.
The agency said they were brought at night to lorry parks in Belgium
by an Indian smuggling network which then passed them on to the Iraqi
network. The immigrants were then hidden on lorries without the drivers
being aware.
Europol said the smugglers used aggressive tactics with the people
they were transporting and did not hesitate to use 'extreme violence'
when competing networks intruded on their turf.
Source: asiaoneNEWS
