The migrants paid up to £6,000 to be transported from French car parks to the UK in refrigerated lorries and rubber boats.
Twenty-three people have been arrested in the Netherlands and France for smuggling up to 10,000 Kurdish migrants into the UK.
Eurojust, the EU's agency for criminal justice cooperation, said on Wednesday that 19 people were arrested in France, while four were arrested in the Netherlands on suspicion of large-scale migrant smuggling. It came after police in both countries conducted searches on five premises earlier this week amid a multi-agency investigation ongoing since August 2018.According to Eurojust, the smuggling ring is believed to have transported around 10,000 Kurdish migrants from various car parks in France to the UK via refrigerated lorries and small rubber boats.
The fare for the cross-Channel journey could cost each passenger up to €7,000 , and is said to have helped drum up €70m in total profits for the network.In the Netherlands, the Public Prosecution Service said on Tuesday the long-term investigation began in France, but was expanded to include Dutch authorities after Dutch number plates cropped up.
It said two of the men subsequently arrested had been involved in smuggling migrants into the Netherlands, while the other two were involved with smuggling migrants from France.
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