'Sickening' people smugglers to be extradited

Three members of a "sickening" people smuggling ring are to be extradited to Belgium after being arrested in the UK.

The men, all in their 20s, were arrested in south London, Hertfordshire and Essex after warrants for their arrest were issued by Belgian courts.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) said the gang was involved in organising the transport of migrants from Afghanistan to western Europe.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the case was "nothing short of sickening".

"These men ran extensive illegal smuggling operations and inflicted extreme cruelty on the migrants they smuggled – some of them children – when they were at their most vulnerable," she added.

According to the NCA, the gang is suspected of transporting thousands of people from northern France to the UK on small boats.

The agency said the group was also accused of raping boys, using footage of their crimes to blackmail their victims into criminality and further sexual abuse.

Some 23 members of the gang were convicted at a Belgian court last month and given jail terms ranging from two to 18 years, the NCA added.

Eleven of them, including the three men arrested in the UK, were tried in their absence.

NCA deputy director Craig Turner said the arrests "should send a very clear message that we will not stop in our work to disrupt and dismantle the gangs that are behind these horrendous crimes".

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