'Britain’s FBI' swoop on suspected people smugglers accused of luring migrants to the UK on lorries and small boats
Three Albanian men and a Moldovan woman have been arrested in early morning raids across London, as part of an investigation into people smuggling.
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LBC joined the National Crime Agency (NCA) as officers dragged suspected smugglers out of their beds at sunrise.
In Edmonton, North London, an enforcement team detained a 31 year old man, who was living in a terraced house, split into three individual bedsits.
Officers said they also seized at least two mobile phones and multiple SIM cards.
At the same time in Enfield, Leyton and near Gatwick Airport, two men aged 29 and 30 and a woman aged 33 were also arrested and taken into custody.
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Adam Berry, from the NCA, told LBC: “Earlier in the year, a HGV driver was arrested coming into the UK with an illegal migrant in his vehicle and now we need to arrest those individuals we believe that had coordinated that movement of the migrant.
“Now hopefully we'll be able to question them in relation to those offences.
“This is an organised crime group that has been advertising crossings into the UK via HGV and today is a culmination of that investigation to try and arrest those that have been advertising those services.
“Social media is a key part of how organised crime groups advertise their services and obviously HGVs and small boats are predominant in how migrants get into the UK. Last year alone, we took down in excess of 8,000 social media adverts.
“They obviously talk about how great it is to get to the UK, but it's an exceptionally dangerous way. We're trying to protect the public, to make sure that migrants don’t fall victim to some of these organised crime groups.”
The raids follow the earlier conviction of a man who was found with a migrant in the back of his lorry, having arrived in the UK.
\It’s suspected the four people arrested in the dawn raids were involved in advertising illegal crossings from France to the UK and picking them up after they got to Kent and transporting them to London.
Following the arrests, the National Crime Agency joined other teams, including from Immigration Enforcement, Border Force, HMRC, Trading Standards and the Metropolitan Police to visit a number of cafes in north and east London where the suspects are believed to have been regulars.
In Waltham Forest, LBC watched as food service was ground to a halt and staff were questioned by immigration authorities.
At the same time, a sniffer dog from Border Force searched the furniture for hidden goods and council authorities investigated Shisha products they had found in the store room.
One official was heard speaking to the cafe’s owner about their paperwork, which listed a manager that he claimed none of the staff knew.
Border Security Minister Dame Angela Eagle, said: “We are turbocharging efforts to combat organised immigration crime and illegal working.
“This successful operation is another example of how we are clamping down on vile gangs who exploit vulnerable people to make money.
“Boosting border security is a vital part of our Plan for Change and we are focussed on taking down these criminal networks at every stage through increased enforcement activity, tougher legislation and strengthened international partnerships.
“I’d like to thank law enforcement for their efforts in this case and we will continue to use every possible tool to ensure dangerous criminals face the full force of the law.”
The NCA said it currently has around 80 investigations ongoing into illegal migration gangs.