Is this the moment a suspected worldwide people smuggling gang was smashed?

PEOPLE smuggling suspects have been targeted in a series of raids.

The National Crime Agency launched a major strike against those suspected of sneaking hundreds of Iraqi-Kurdish migrants into the UK.

In what is believed to be the biggest operation of its kind, properties in Newcastle, Teesside and the South East were targeted early yesterday and 21 people arrested.

The raids followed an NCA investigation into a Kurdish network suspected of smuggling people to the UK from France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Migrants are believed to have paid between £5,000 and £10,000 to be smuggled by the group.

Around 350 officers from the NCA, the North East Regional Special Operation Unit, Northumbria, Cleveland, Sussex and Metropolitan police forces took part in the operation.

The NCA worked closely with the French Police Aux Frontières, the Belgian Federal Police and Dutch Kmar in the year-long probe which led up to the strike. Agents linked to the network are alleged to have recruited drivers both on the continent and in Teesside.

Over the past year, the NCA’s officers, in partnership with Immigration Enforcement, Border Force and European partners, have stopped several drivers and safeguarded migrants found on board their vehicles.

And about 60 officers from the NCA, Durham, Cleveland and Northumbria police, Immigration Enforcement, HMRC and the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority carried out spot inspections of hand car washes in the area.

NCA deputy director, Tom Dowdall, said: “The number of officers deployed by the National Crime Agency, the police and partner agencies reflects the scale and severity of the suspected criminality.

“It is one of the biggest operations of its kind undertaken by the NCA.

“We believe we have identified and disrupted a significant network which is suspected of smuggling hundreds of migrants into the UK.

“People smugglers don’t think twice about putting lives in danger, employing a range of dangerous methods as they attempt to evade border controls. It is a crime predicated on exploitation of vulnerable people and their treatment as a commodity instead of as human beings.”

One person was arrested in Newcastle and, in the Cleveland Police area, 16 people were held in the Stockton, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool and Wynyard areas

The Metropolitan Police helped arrest two people in the Stockwell and Balham areas And there were two arrests in the Hastings area of Sussex.

The investigation was part of Project Invigor – an NCA-led campaign to tackle organised immigration crime.

Project Invigor works with international partners to target suspected criminals behind people smuggling in the Mediterranean and at the UK border.

Northumbria Police assistant chief constable, Helen McMillan, said: “Under Sanctuary our absolute priority is protecting the people who are most vulnerable in our communities and preventing them from being exploited even further.

“Today’s activity will have a significant impact on disrupting suspected people smugglers who are suspected of being responsible for taking advantage of vulnerable people for their own gain.

“This operation reinforces our commitment to prevent this sort of criminality taking place in our force area.”