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Gang smuggling Indians busted in Belgium

Paris: A large ring smuggling Indians and operating mainly in the Punjab has been smashed in Brussels by the Belgian police with the arrest of several Indians and their Iraqi Kurd associates.

Ms Estelle Arpigny, the spokesperson of the Brussels Crown Prosecutor’s office told The Hindu that more than 300 police officers were involved in several raids carried out overnight during which 16 arrests were made.

“This was an operation which was several months in preparation.

“In all, 16 persons were arrested, most of them Indian. However, since the matter is still sub judice, I cannot give you names or other details of the investigation.

“The raids were carried out in parking bays on the highway leading from Brussels to Britain.

“The Indians would bring the clandestine immigrants to Belgium where they were handed over to the Kurdish gang who then ferried them across to Britain.”

She said the police also picked up 50 clandestine immigrants as they were being smuggled from Belgium towards Britain.

There were two gangs, one Indian the other Iraqi Kurd that worked together.

In India, the illegal immigrants paid up to Rs 12.5 lakh per person to these agents while the Kurds extracted another €2,000 to €3,000 (Rs 1.5 lakh) before taking them across to Britain.

The Iraqi Kurd smugglers then hid them in lorries headed for Britain, for the most part without the knowledge of the drivers.

Those drivers who knowingly let the stowaways on their trucks charged their own cut. Such a “safe” passage cost the immigrant even more, up to €5000 (Rs 2.5 lakh).

“Their families sell everything they have to send these people across. All this is very tragic,” Ms Arpigny said.

Raids elsewhere, in the north Flanders and southern Wallonia regions, led to the arrest of seven Kurds and a Belgian.

It is believed that the gangs sent dozens of paying customers towards England each night. Most are thought to have travelled on to the French port of Calais and then reached England via ferry or the Euro tunnel.

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