Belgium, UK nab people smugglers

22 July 2004

BRUSSELS – Police in Belgium and the UK have arrested seven people thought to have been part of a gang smuggling Asian illegal immigrants into Europe, it was reported on Thursday.

Two of the people arrested were British men of Asian origin, police officers in London, cited by the AFP news agency, said.

They were caught on the border between France and Belgium after seven illegal immigrants from Asia were found inside a truck at the Belgian port of Ostend.

The UK’s Immigration Crime Team arrested a further five men during a raid on a house to the west of London.

Police said one of the men arrested in London could be the smuggling gang’s “key player.”

Officers also found ammunition, guns, ammunition and money during the raid.

In recent years the UK has made much of its efforts to crack down on people smuggling, in particular since 58 Chinese immigrants were found suffocated to death in the back of a lorry at the port of Dover in 2000.

Subject: Belgian news