Anti-Financial Crime & Financial Crime Compliance
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NEWS: 300 arrested in crackdown on English Channel people smuggling

French gendarmes on a boat approach a group of migrants on an inflatable dinghy to accompany them as they leave the coast of northern France in an attempt to cross the English Channel to reach Britain, from the beach of Petit-Fort-Philippe in Gravelines, near Calais, France, July 17, 2025.

By PAUL O’DONOGHUE, Senior Correspondent

A JOINT UK and French operation has arrested more than 300 people in a five-year crackdown on small boat crossings.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) and France’s Police Nationale led the operations. They targeted networks moving migrants across the English Channel.

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