Four men arrested in London in human trafficking investigation

This is the moment police hunting a human trafficking gang suspected of smuggling 32 people into lorries to bring them to the UK break down the door of the alleged kingpin and place handcuffs on him.

It came as four suspects were arrested in London as part of a National Crime Agency (NCA) operation targeting criminals linked to the “prolific smuggling of migrants” to the UK by lorry.

On Tuesday morning, the 39-year-old man, alleged to be a senior member of the conspiracy, was arrested in Dagenham on suspicion of conspiring to facilitate illegal immigration.

NCA lead suspected gangleader away in cuffs (NCA)

Body-worn camera footage shows NCA officers using a battering ram to break down the back door of a non-descript flat before racing to put the suspected gang leader in cuffs and drag him out into a van.

The arrests are linked to two separate events in 2019, where a total of 32 migrants were found in the back of HGVs in the Netherlands and France.

Both drivers and another facilitator were later jailed in those countries.

NCA investigators believe the gang arranged for lorries to be broken into, and people loaded onto them without the knowledge of lorry drivers.

Tracking devices were attached to the vehicles to locate them before migrants were placed in the rear as they continued their journey to the UK.

The gang are also suspected of obtaining a boat as part of their plans to bring migrants on the dangerous final leg of the journey over the Channel.

Meanwhile, in a series of co-ordinated raids, a 37-year-old man was arrested in Ilford, and two further men aged 36 and 42 were detained at addresses in Streatham and Leytonstone, also on suspicion of facilitation offences.

NCA Branch Commander Andy Noyes said: “Organised immigration crime is a chronic and dangerous threat and the smugglers pay no regard to the lives of the people they attempt to transport, whether that be by boat or in vehicles.

“While putting people in lorries might make the issue less visible to the public, it is no less dangerous to those being smuggled, and unfortunately we have seen the tragic consequences this can have.”