A Spanish policeman with Chinese notes seized after the detention of a gang suspected of smuggling Chinese nationals into Europe and the US
EPA
Agency10 August 2013
A major trafficking gang smuggling Chinese citizens into Britain has been busted in a joint initiative by French and Spanish police.
The Spanish Interior Ministry said that 75 people have been arrested, 51 in Spain and 24 in France, including the two Barcelona-based suspected heads of the organisation in Europe.
The gang allegedly charged up to £43,000 to transport Chinese nationals to the US, Britain, Spain, France, Greece, Italy and Turkey.
Some of the people trafficked ended up in the sex trade, the ministry says.
The gang's main European hub was Barcelona airport. It allegedly used the north-eastern city as a stopping-off point for the Chinese while false documents were prepared.
