Migrant scheme pair jailed

Two people traffickers who preyed on desperate migrants trying to sneak to Britain across the English Channel have been arrested and convicted in France, authorities say.

The arrests cracked the centrepiece of a lucrative people smuggling network run out of Britain, where the investigation continues, according to Dunkirk deputy prosecutor Amelie Le Sant.

A Dunkirk court convicted Twana Jamal, a 36-year-old Iraqi Kurd earlier this month, with Kadir Pirout, 33.

In a single month, the two arranged passage for more than 80 migrants. The monthly take was estimated at £300,000, Ms Le Sant said.

Jamal received a fiveyear sentence while Pirout got four years, plus fines and lifelong bans from France once their terms are served.

Across northern

“Police officers were set upon by migrants”

France, police are cracking down on migrant smugglers.

The people smuggling operation was out of the Grande Synthe camp outside Dunkirk, 27 miles east of Calais – site of a massive makeshift migrant camp that French authorities plan to dismantle before year's end.

“The arrest was a bit messy. Police officers were set upon by migrants trying to prevent the operation,” Herve Derache of the regional border police told reporters.

Authorities in the area have arrested 619 suspected smugglers so far this year, up from 586 over all of 2015, Mr Derache said, primarily Afghans, Kurds and Albanians.

He said 49,000 migrants have been caught hiding in trucks this year, up sharply from 38,000 over all of 2015.