Network of 11 human trafficking suspects arrested

A network of 11 people suspected of human trafficking were arrested in a large-scale police action earlier this week involving forces from across the country, the Leuven prosecutor’s office has announced. The group is thought to have taken part in a plan to transport migrants illegally to the UK.

For years, the parking facilities along the E40 between Brussels and the coast have become notorious for the loading of human cargo onto lorries in preparation for crossing the North Sea to Britain. However, the traffickers have started to change their strategy, according to Sarah Callewaert of the Leuven prosecutor’s office.

“The gangs have moved in response to police and legal actions,” she told the VRT. “Now they are also using car parks on other motorways, including the E17, as well as more inland spots like the E314 at Rotselaar, the E40 at Heverlee, the E411 at Bierges and the E313 at Ranst. They are also frequently active close to the border such as at the industrial estates around Veurne.”

The leader of the latest group to be arrested is a 26-year-old man, himself an asylum seeker, who lives in Brussels. He and his confederates put the migrants up in a safe house before bringing them to one or other car park, where they would be loaded onto lorries for the last stage of the journey to the UK. The traffickers are thought to have demanded up to €3,500 per person from the migrants, some of whom are minors.

The 200 police officers involved in the joint action also discovered 17 migrants being transported, mainly of Afghan and Syrian nationality. The traffickers were picked up during house searches in Brussels City, Schaarbeek, Sint-Joost, Laken, Molenbeek and in Wavre.