French fishermen from Brittany are on trial charged with smuggling people into the UK.
The 13 Breton men are among 18 who are accused of using private boats and pleasure yachts for ferrying 200 illegal migrants onto beaches in Britain.
It is alleged that a gang of Albanian people smugglers paid them €1,000 per passenger while pocketing much more for themselves.
The migrant passengers, mostly Albanians, were charged between €7,000 and €10,000 each for the crossings. Families were charged a group fee of €15,000.
The fishermen come predominately from the ports of Paimpol in Brittany. Fishing boats were able to sail to and from ports on the northern coast without raising suspicions, the court heard.
According to investigators the operation was organised by four Albanians one of whom, aged 45, had lived in Brittany for 15 years.
The arrests in June 2014 resulted from months of surveillance by French undercover detectives.
Two of the four Albanian suspects will be tried in absentia.
Two French skippers in charge of a hired yacht will also appear in court. They were arrested in 2013 after a search of the yacht found Albanian migrants on board.
Another two suspects killed themselves before the trial began.
Verdicts are due at the end of the week.
Last month a French fisherman and six suspected accomplices were arrested near Dunkirk and charged with ferrying migrants to Britain on a high-speed rigid inflatable boat.
The boat became stranded on an English beach and the fisherman could not explain away the 16 life jackets on board.
Border police believe this was part of a “vast people trafficking ring” operated by Albanians offering illegal entry through cross-Channel transport.
Comments
But then this kind of person is probably not that bothered being in the EU or not ! Just as the people smugglers in the Med.