Wednesday 6 July 2022 07:00 PM Dozens more migrants cross the channel by small boat after 40 are arrested trends now

Wednesday 6 July 2022 07:00 PM Dozens more migrants cross the channel by small boat after 40 are arrested trends now
Wednesday 6 July 2022 07:00 PM Dozens more migrants cross the channel by small boat after 40 are arrested trends now

Wednesday 6 July 2022 07:00 PM Dozens more migrants cross the channel by small boat after 40 are arrested trends now

Dozens of migrants crossed the English Channel by small boat today after it was revealed that more than 40 people were arrested in an international operation targeting people smugglers.

The first arrivals were escorted to Dover, Kent on board Border Force cutter Vigilant shortly before 8am.

The mostly male group, who carried their belongings in plastic carrier bags, were escorted along the gangway by soldiers dressed in camouflage fatigues.

A second group of around 30 people, which included a number of women and children, was brought into the harbour on Border Force vessel Defender around an hour later.

At least two people could be seen carrying small babies in a life jackets as they disembarked the boat, while around three more toddlers were helped off the vessel. Several migrants appeared cold as they stood waiting to be taken along the walkway for processing by UK officials - with blue blankets wrapped around their shoulders.

Border Force cutter Defender later returned to the port with a third group of migrants who had been intercepted in the Channel.

The migrants landed on British shores just as up to 40 people were arrested in a series of raids across Europe as the National Crime Agency (NCA) this week joined the biggest ever international operation designed to crack down on human traffickers and illegal smuggling operations.  

Dramatic video captured a slew of raids that took place in the UK, Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands yesterday as part of the operation.

The first arrivals, mainly teenage boys, were escorted to Dover, Kent on board Border Force cutter Vigilant shortly before 8am

The first arrivals, mainly teenage boys, were escorted to Dover, Kent on board Border Force cutter Vigilant shortly before 8am

A migrant woman is wrapped in a blanket as she attempts to recover from the cold crossing earlier today

A migrant woman is wrapped in a blanket as she attempts to recover from the cold crossing earlier today

Several migrants appeared cold as they stood waiting to be taken along the walkway for processing by UK officials

Several migrants appeared cold as they stood waiting to be taken along the walkway for processing by UK officials 

An individual is arrested by National Crime Agency officers in connection with people smuggling operations

An individual is arrested by National Crime Agency officers in connection with people smuggling operations

Operation Punjum, led by the NCA in Britain, was carried out alongside Operation Thoren in Europe to smash gangs allegedly charging migrants up to £3,500 each to take them to the UK in boats packed with up to 60 people at a time. 

'Mr Big' Hewa Rahimpur, a 29-year-old Iranian, is accused of overseeing one 'slick' operation to source boats in Turkey before having them delivered to warehouses in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands and eventually moved to northern France.

NCA officers arrested six people in London - including two who were detained on suspicion of conspiring to facilitate illegal immigration.

Two other men were arrested for immigration offences, while a man and woman were both detained on suspicion of possessing class A drugs with intent to supply.

There have been more than 40 arrests

read more from dailymail.....

NEXT Alsatian strapped to German SAS solider learns new tricks during military water ... trends now