Voice of Europe
Two Irishmen were among four people arrested for migrant trafficking last week.
Police discovered two adults and eight children, believed to be from Southeast Asia, hidden in a lorry hauling tires near Ghent in Belgium last Thursday, the Irish Mirror reported. Wayne Sherlock and Eoin Nolan, Irish nationals currently residing in Dover, were among those arrested in the subsequent investigation. They were detained as part of an ongoing British National Crime Agency investigation into a migrant smuggling ring that is believed to be bringing migrants into the UK via lorries.
The two men remain in custody following a hearing that was held at Canterbury Magistrates’ Court on Saturday.
Additional searches were carried out by police at locations in Northern Ireland and Kent. Two guns were confiscated during the raids.
Migrant trafficking has been a growing problem in Europe in recent years, often with deadly consequences for the migrants. Neither is this the first time Irish nationals have been involved in these crimes. In November, Maurice Robinson, a driver from Northern Ireland, was charged with manslaughter for the deaths of 39 migrants whose bodies were found in a lorry in Grays, Essex the previous month.
The regional head for the UK’s National Crime Agency, Gerry McLean, praised his agency’s cooperation with the Belgian Federal Judicial Police for helping to put an end to migrant trafficking. “We have seen only recently in Essex the tragic consequences which these types of attempts can have,” McLean said. “Working with partners at home and abroad, we are determined to do all we can to disrupt and dismantle criminal networks involved in illegal immigration, and our investigation into this matter continues.”
The UK is not alone in its fight against migrant smuggling. Just last month, Spanish authorities arrested 26 people accused of smuggling Northern African migrants into Spain, as reported by the
