The National Crime Agency has begun one of its biggest operations, tackling a people-smuggling network involving suspected Kurdish gangsters.
About 350 officers took part in raids in London, Northumbria, Cleveland and Sussex. They targeted 20 addresses and visited car washes to monitor activity following a year-long investigation with links to the French, Belgian and Dutch authorities.
Some 21 people were arrested in the raids.
Officers from Immigration Enforcement, HMRC and the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority were carrying out spot inspections of car washes.
The gang is suspected of charging up to £10,000 per head to smuggle migrants across the Channel. The authorities’ car wash inquiries were aimed at disrupting the gang’s money-laundering operation.
