Channel crossings: 18 members of a smugglers network sentenced to up to 15 years in prison

Sentences of up to 15 years in prison were handed down this Tuesday, November 5 in Lille against 18 members of a vast network of smugglers in the Channel. This trial was held between the end of September and the beginning of October, before the Specialized Interregional Jurisdiction (Jirs) of Lille. These individuals organized Channel crossings from a camp in Grande Synthe.

This network is said to have organized more than 10,000 clandestine crossings

This Iraqi-Kurdish network was very organized, it bought the boats in Türkiye and stored the equipment in the Netherlands. A boat of 50 migrants could bring in up to 100,000 euros. According to the British authorities, this network is suspected of having organized more than 10,000 clandestine crossings. According to the French investigation, he was also one of the main organizers of migrant crossings to England via the Channel between 2020 and 2022.

More than 50 searches led to the seizure of 1,200 life jackets, nearly 150 inflatable boats and 50 boat engines, during operations carried out jointly by France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. , coordinated by the Europol and Eurojust agencies.

The Lille court followed, this Tuesday, the requisitions of the Prosecutor who had described during the hearing last month a “sprawling” file. The principal receives the heaviest sentence, 15 years of imprisonment. This 26-year-old Iraqi piloted the network from his prison cell in France because he had already been convicted for other crimes. He was also given a permanent ban from French territory and a fine of 200,000 euros. The 17 other defendants, including a woman, were sentenced to sentences ranging from one to twelve years' imprisonment and a fine of up to 150,000 euros.