A joint police operation has broken up an organised crime group smuggling migrants to UK cities, including Liverpool.
The network moved mainly Albanian migrants through the northern Spanish cities of Bilbao and Santander into the UK using ferries and freight shipping routes to Portsmouth, Southampton and Liverpool. The migrants were believed to have come directly from Albania to Spain for onward travel, but were also recruited from camps located around Spanish ports facilities.
Spanish prosecutors described the criminal gang as high-level and well-organised. It would provide migrants with accommodation and food until they successfully stowed away for their journey to the UK. Each are believed to have paid between 3,000 and 15,000 euros to be smuggled.
