This represents around a quarter of the €60m (£51.5m) people-smuggling gangs generated from the Channel trade in 2021, said Jean-Philippe Lecouf, Europol’s deputy chief executive.
They charged migrants between €2,500-€3,500 (£2,140-£3,000) each, regularly changed tactics to avoid detection, used larger boats and released up to 15 at a time, around half of whom reached the UK.
Police believe checkpoints, which are moving at double the rate of last year, will decrease in the “immediate future” as a result of Tuesday’s raids.
The Home Secretary said: “These arrests send a clear message to criminal gangs who prey on vulnerable people across Europe and beyond: we will stop at nothing to stop your dirty trade, bring you to justice and save lives .
“These callous people treat human life as a commodity and we will continue to work with our partners to ensure they feel the full force of our new, tougher laws designed to break their business model and punish them appropriately way for their despicable crimes.’
One of the gang’s alleged leaders was arrested in London in May. Heva Rahimpour, 29, who lives in Ilford, east London, is suspected of sourcing boats from Turkey before delivering them to Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. He is wanted by Belgian authorities and faces extradition from the UK.
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