Migrant smugglers net millions from the cross-Channel route

CALAIS, France — The distance between France and Britain at the narrowest point of the English Channel is 20 miles. The migrants who attempt to cross it on rubber dinghies must navigate frigid waters and passing cargo ships. They also have to pay a high price to people smugglers. The cost varies according to the network, between 3,000 and 7,000 euros ($3,380 and $8,000) though there are rumors of discounts.

The people who collect the money — up to 300,000 euros ($432,000) per boat that makes it across the narrows of the Channel — are not the ones arrested in the periodic raids along the coastline. They are just what French police call “the little hands.”

Now, French authorities are hoping to move up the chain of command. The French judicial investigation into Wednesday’s sinking that killed 27 people has been turned over to Paris-based prosecutors who specialize in organized crime.

As of Nov. 17, 23,000 people had crossed successfully, according to Britain’s Home Office. France intercepted about 19,000 people. At a minimum, then, smuggling organizations this year have netted 69 million euros ($77.7 million) for the crossing — that’s nearly 3.5 million euros per mile.

The leg through central Europe can cost around 4,000 euros ($4,500), according to Austrian authorities who on Saturday announced the arrest of 15 people suspected of smuggling Syrian, Lebanese and Egyptian migrants into the country in vanloads of 12 to 15 people. The suspects transported more than 700 people at a total cost of more than 2.5 million euros ($2.8 million), police said. In this network, the migrants were bound for Germany.