People smuggling

Investigators clamp down on suspected U.K. human smuggling ring

A series of coordinated overnight raids by U.K. immigration officers led to the arrest of 11 people believed to be part of a sophisticated Europe-wide human smuggling ring.

Police smashed down doors and swept through five addresses across England earlier this week. At the same time, more than a dozen arrests were made in Belgium and Bulgaria.

The operation, codenamed Halifax, revealed further evidence of the booming European human trafficking trade -- a lucrative business that puts scores of desperate people on a path to black market labour and sexual exploitation.

The number of people reported to be victims of slavery and human trafficking surged nearly 120 per cent between 2013 and 2016, according to figures released by the U.K. National Crime Agency.

“We’re targeting the organizers of a people smuggling network, and we are going to be searching for evidence and arresting subjects. That will feed into the wider pan-European investigation,” Inspector Andy Ratcliffe said before a raid in Gateshead, U.K.