UnitedKingdom

> A French immigration investigator has claimed that some 100 people-smuggling gangs are running illegal migrant routes across the English Channel to Britain.

> Following the bust of a trafficking network in the UK — which was raking in some £1 million per month by offering a “VIP” service to illegal migrants — officials have uncovered a vast network of people-smuggling gangs operating in France.

> Speaking to The Times, a senior investigator for France’s national immigration policing unit said that he believes there are about 100 gangs providing safe houses for migrants and hiding speedboats to help launch the migrants in the Channel.

> “I’m not talking about the bloke, who knows another bloke who knows a third bloke with a boat. I’m talking about structured networks capable of bringing migrants across borders,” the investigator said, adding: “At a very rough guess, I’d say [there are] about 100.”