A coordinated operation between Belgian law enforcement and the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SWROCU) in the United Kingdom has led to three arrests as part of an investigation into a people-smuggling network operating between Belgium and the UK.
The operation, carried out on 5 November, also prevented five migrants from attempting to cross the Channel hidden in a lorry.
What happened
Shortly after 2.00pm on Tuesday, SWROCU officers, supported by Dorset Police, arrested two men near Southbourne Grove in Bournemouth on suspicion of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration. The suspects, aged 33 and 55, are now in custody in Poole.
The younger man, from Southampton, was also arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply class A and B drugs after police discovered suspected cocaine and amphetamine at his home.
At the same time, Belgian police arrested another man linked to the same network and stopped five others believed to be preparing to board a lorry bound for the UK.
Detective Superintendent Kevin Till, head of SWROCU, said the operation struck at the heart of a criminal business that treats migrants as a source of profit. “Criminals involved in organised immigration crime see migrants as nothing more than money-making commodities,” he said.
“The high price tags they charge to facilitate their illegal journeys help to strengthen their criminal networks, causing yet more harm to our communities, often through drug supply and the exploitation of vulnerable people.”
Growing collaboration
The operation was supported by the UK’s National Crime Agency’s international network and by Belgian police forces. It follows a series of joint investigations between both countries, including a Eurojust-supported case in which twenty suspects were sentenced in Belgium in 2023 for smuggling Vietnamese nationals into the UK.
