It was a sort of rear base for nautical equipment. A structure offering boats, engines, life jackets, pumps and nurses (fuel tanks) according to the needs of criminal groups organizing Channel crossings, most often from Oye-Plage (North) according to a police source. It all started with “British intelligence” to identify “the delivery of nautical equipment from Turkey” to a storage location in Douai (North), explained Jean Arvieu, deputy head of Ocriest, l central office specializing in the fight against irregular immigration. Long technical and physical monitoring “highlighted the existence of this structure” added Jean Arvieu.
Among the members of the sector, arrested on Tuesday and Thursday by Ocriest and the Mobile Research Brigade (BMR) of Lille, are three Iraqis, a Sudanese, an Afghan and a Frenchman, all residents in the north of France. The network was organized with a leader, an associate and four deliverers of boats or migrants.
In total, 32 attempted crossings – all aborted thanks to the survey – at a rate of 35 people per boat and 1,500 euros per migrant were recorded, a gain of 1.68 million euros. Four boats, four engines, 133 life jackets and a repair kit were seized during the search. The six arrested were presented to the Douai prosecutor’s office on Friday.