French police arrest human traffickers and migrants in Calais

French border police have shutdown an Albanian human trafficking gang which was smuggling migrants into the UK from Calais.

In the early morning of 7 February, hordes of border police surrounded three hotels in Calais and arrested four Albanian human traffickers and  10 migrants.

The Albanian gang members had been housing migrants in hotels in Calais as they waited to be smuggled to the UK inside trucks and boats. Once in the UK victims of human trafficking are often exploited being forced into slavery or prostitution.

Five hotel owners have also since been arrested for hiding the trafficking victims in filthy conditions. The French and Algerian hoteliers are being held in custody as they await their court appearance within the next few days.

Calais public prosecutor Pascal Marconville said: “They [the trafficking gang] had been offering migrants a guaranteed passage to England for between 5,000 and 10,000 euros per head, depending on the form of transport used to get them across the Channel.”

Border police have stepped up security in areas that lead to the Channel Tunnel, and in the port areas where ferries head to the south coast of England.