Aylesbury man arrested in connection to human trafficking conspiracy

A man from Aylesbury has been arrested in connection to a human trafficking conspiracy yesterday (30 October).

The 34-year-old was cuffed by the National Crime Agency in connection to a migrant smuggling investigation.

Two other men were arrested yesterday as part of the international policing operation.

Belgian Federal Police stopped migrants from entering the UK on a high-powered rigid hulled inflatable boat (RHIB).

It was the Belgian authorities that arrested two men from Basingstoke, aged 34 and 44 on suspicion of people smuggling offences.

The men were spotted by officers on the on the coast near Nieuwpoort at 4.30am yesterday.

Twelve migrants, believed to be Albanian nationals, were also detained.

Later that day the man was arrested in Aylesbury, on suspicion of assisting unlawful immigration. He remains in custody and is being questioned.

The group are alleged to be part of a gang organising a series of people smuggling runs to the UK from Europe.

NCA Branch Commander Colin Williams said: “We believe this operation has disrupted a suspected organised crime group involved in bringing people to the UK illegally.

“Attempts to reach the UK by small boat are extremely dangerous and people smugglers do not care about the safety of their passengers.

“Working closely with partners including Belgian Federal Police, Border Force and Immigration Enforcement, these arrests show that the NCA will work across international borders to target people smuggling gangs.”

Belgian Public Prosecutor Frank Demeester added: “The fight against organised human smuggling is an absolute priority for the Public Prosecutor's Office of West-Flanders.

“That is why the Belgian Federal Police have deployed significant resources to thwart these acts of human smuggling. We want to avoid at all costs, that people are put in danger on the North Sea. By now it is common knowledge that international cooperation with British colleagues from the NCA and with our European partners is very good within this phenomenon.”

Currently, the NCA has more than 60 active investigations into networks or individuals in the top tier of organised immigration crime or human trafficking.

The NCA states many of these operations sit outside the UK and the agency has built up an intelligence sharing network in France and Belgium and beyond to counter this.