UK arrests 3 members of organized crime group

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) – The UK arrested three suspects, believed to be members of an “Albanian organised crime group” bringing migrants to Britain, according to the country's crime agency on Monday.

A 34-year-old man from Grays and a 34-year-old man from Dagenham – the suspected group ringleaders, and a 55-year-old man from Belgium – were arrested in London, National Crime Agency (NCA) said in a statement.

The two suspected ringleaders were captured at an address in North London, while the Belgian national was arrested when his truck was stopped in Folkestone, southeastern England.

"NCA investigators believe the group have facilitated the illegal entry of numerous migrants, charging between £2,500 (nearly $3,200) and £7,500 (nearly $9,600) each time, including an event last August where a small boat with 46 migrants on board left from the French coast and was intercepted in British waters," the statement said.

It added that all of those arrested suspects will be questioned by NCA officers.

"We have dismantled a suspected organised crime group behind a number of dangerous migrant crossings last year. People smugglers do not care about the safety of those they transport, they seek to exploit them for profit," Chris Farrimond, director of Threat Leadership at the NCA, said in the statement.