An Iraqi national, Hussam Al Ramli, was arrested in Wolverhampton on suspicion of being involved in a people-smuggling network. The National Crime Agency (NCA) and Polish police officers detained Al Ramli at his home in Bilston on Wednesday. He is suspected of arranging for migrants to cross the border illegally from Belarus to Poland and then to be transported onwards to the Poland-Germany border. He is also accused of advertising the service on the internet.
The NCA said that Al Ramli will face extradition proceedings to Poland and has been remanded in custody. He will appear before Westminster Magistrates’ Court again next Wednesday. This arrest is part of a major operation targeting “a dangerous and harmful international people-smuggling network.” The German-led operation targeting a Syrian organised crime group was described as “one of Europe’s most significant people-smuggling networks” by the NCA.
The operation led to at least 20 arrests in raids across Europe on Wednesday. Police in Austria, the Netherlands, Poland, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Serbia were part of the operation. The group had smuggled at least 750 Syrian migrants into the UK and Germany, charging each person between €4,500 and €12,000 (£3,750 to £10,000). They were moved through the Balkans and Eastern Europe, and in some cases, about 100 people were moved at a time.
From Germany, those heading towards the UK were transported through the Netherlands in boats or lorries. NCA Director of Investigations John Denley stated that more resources than ever before were being employed to dismantle groups behind people smuggling. Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Dame Angela Eagle, has pledged to stop at nothing to root out criminal networks wherever they are found
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