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An
alleged multi-million pound people-smuggling racket
believed to have brought up to 200,000 people into
the UK has been smashed, say police.
Nineteen people were arrested after dawn raids in
London and Lincolnshire as part of a crackdown on
the alleged smuggling of Turkish Kurds into the UK.
Eight of the 19 were arrested on suspicion of
involvement in aiding people smuggling, said police.
Operation Bluesky has involved officers across six
European countries.
Detectives from Italy, Holland, France, Belgium and
Denmark have all taken part along with the
Metropolitan Police.
The network is thought to have brought people to
Britain, in groups of up to 20 a time, concealed in
cars, vans, lorries and aircraft.
The illegal immigrants, smuggled in from the Kurdish
areas of Turkey, pay between £3,000 and £5,000 for
journeys which often take months, said police.
The journeys involve being passed on to gang members
in several European countries and staying at safe
houses before being smuggled into the UK in cramped
conditions.
Many of the immigrants find low-paid, black market
menial jobs in north London's Turkish community.
The alleged racket is thought to have made millions
of pounds for its ringleaders with some of that
money being invested in businesses like cafes and
snooker halls.
Det Chief Supt Bill Skelly said the investigation
was part of a wider international operation.
"This is the biggest operation of its kind that the
Metropolitan Police has been involved in so far," he
told BBC News.
"This operation is the culmination of 20 other
arrests and operations which have taken place
throughout Europe over the last two years."
"Typically people who are charged are charged with
offences of illegal immigration and receive
custodial sentences which can range from two to
three years up to ten years."
European investigation
Eighteen people were arrested in raids on 12
residential and business addresses in London and a
19th man was arrested at a residential address in
Boston, Lincolnshire.
Police said the racket's suspected ringleaders were
among the 19 detainees.
Eight men were arrested on suspicion of aiding
people smuggling.
A further six people were arrested on suspicion of
immigration offences, two on suspicion of
interfering with the inquiry, two on suspicion of
theft and one on suspicion of money-laundering
offences.
More than 200 officers were involved in the London
raids at addresses in Enfield, Bexleyheath, Barnet,
Hackney, Hammersmith, Haringey and Tower Hamlets.
Scotland Yard Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur
said the raids had been aimed at those "right at the
top of this network".
The racket had mainly targeted people from the
Kurdish areas of Turkey with the promise of a better
life, he said.
"Once here some of these people get into low-paid
jobs, others are clearly left to their own devices
to find work," he added.
www.bbc.co.uk
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