Illegal network dismantled after organizing the passage of 560 migrants to France

Most of the illegals came from Pakistan, while the rest came from the Indian region. When they arrived in Portugal, they were then taken by car to France, Germany or other regions of Portugal. According to information from French daily le Figaro, they passed through a network set up last March.

The services for the fight against irregular immigration (SDLII) put an end to the organization on May 22. Their suspicions had been aroused by strange comings and goings of minivans registered in Portugal, in the parking lot of a shopping center in Stains (Seine-Saint-Denis), near Paris. The police had observed several exchanges of people and luggage there. Three smugglers and ten illegal immigrants were arrested in a police sting upon arrival.

When they were arrested, the smugglers had some 6000 euros in cash with them. However, according to police estimates, this sum corresponds to a tiny part of the total turnover of the clandestine network. Since March, the smugglers had made nearly 280 000 euros – a hefty sum, collected thanks to the illegals.

For each trip, the latter paid their couriers 500 euros in cash. The drivers of the minivans were paid 400 euros per trip. The three smugglers arrested recognized their participation in the sector which, according to le Figaro, has its roots in Portugal. They were remanded in custody, and face up to a year in prison. Of the ten illegal immigrants arrested, six were ordered to leave French territory.

Meanwhile, in Calais, France, posters have been posted in several streets of the city at the initiative of associations helping illegal migrants. The idea is to glorify the role of “helpers” and to sugar-coat the problem of illegal immigration.

Some posters have already been covered due to the approaching departmental and regional elections. Nevertheless, the majority of posters posted since Wednesday in the four corners of Calais by volunteers from associations helping migrants, are still there. This poster campaign has been orchestrated by “caregivers” aided by Amnesty International.

In a study published by Amnesty International in May, it revealed that inhabitants thought the situation in Calais was getting worse. Some 71 percent said they were “dissatisfied” with the situation. “This fatigue also turns into anger at being helpless before an unsolvable and never-ending problem,” Audrey Boursicot, who headed the study for Amnesty, told the media.

Calais home-owners have surrounded themselves with “walls, barbed wires and fences” admitted one aid worker to AFP. Many inhabitants have had to secure their properties with 2,50-metre high walls because of illegals breaking into homes.