Various searches took place on Tuesday morning simultaneously in Belgium and in France, in order to arrest those responsible for a significant trafficking in human beings, the federal prosecutor’s office confirmed on Wednesday in a press release. A total of 13 people of Vietnamese (11) and Moroccan (2) nationality were deprived of their liberty in Belgium after 16 searches in the municipalities of Anderlecht (5), Schaerbeek (3), Molenbeek-Saint-Jean (3), Leeuw-Saint-Pierre, Ganshoren, Brussels, Uccle and Etterbeek.
So far, five people have been charged by an investigating judge from West Flanders with trafficking in human beings with aggravating circumstances, membership of a criminal organization and forgery and use of forgery. All were placed under arrest warrant. “The network set up by the traffickers is suspected of having probably transported up to several dozen people every day for several months. The organization focused on transporting refugees from Asia, in particular from Vietnam”, said the prosecution. This organization is in particular suspected, in a file mainly dealt with by Great Britain, of having made possible a transport in a refrigerated truck, discovered the night of October 22 to 23, 2019, by the British police in an industrial zone in Grays ( Essex, UK). A total of 39 people were discovered dead. The corpses of 31 men and eight women, including two 15-year-old adolescents, were discovered in a container from the port of Zeebrugge. All of the victims had Vietnamese identity documents.
In France, 13 people were arrested in the Paris – Île-de-France region. The operation took place in part under the supervision of the investigating judge of the National Jurisdiction against Organized Crime (Junalco), specifies Eurojust. These searches and the 26 arrests in total were possible thanks to the cooperation of the police and judicial authorities of Belgium, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Europol and Eurojust. The penalties for these acts range from one year to 15 years of imprisonment and a fine of 1,000 to 150,000 euros per identified victim. In the British part of the investigation, five people have already been charged in this so-called mass truck case. The driver of the vehicle, Maurice Robinson, 25, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in early London in early April.
In the meantime, man arrested in Ireland suspected of“to have organized“The movement of drivers involved in the trafficking that led to the death of the 39 Vietnamese migrants, announced in mid-May the Irish prosecution. In Vietnam, seven people suspected of being involved in the discovery of the 39 bodies have also been charged, said know the Vietnamese police in February.
–
