Two Moroccans Arrested in France Linked to UK Migrant Truck Deaths

The case dates back to October 23, 2019, when the bodies of 31 men and 8 women, including two 15-year-old teenagers, were found in the industrial area of Grays, east of London, on board a container from the Belgian port of Zeebruges, recalls AFP. At the time, 26 arrests were made the same day, in France and Belgium. In a press release, the Belgian prosecutor’s office specified that some of the victims had also stayed in Belgium before their departure.

According to the same media, the investigation into this tragedy, jointly conducted by the United Kingdom, Ireland, France and Belgium, led to 16 searches on Tuesday in Brussels, Belgium. In total, 2 Moroccans and 11 Vietnamese accomplices were arrested.

13 other arrests, probably of Vietnamese, were also made in France. Placed in custody, these defendants are suspected of participating in a vast human trafficking network between France, Belgium and the United Kingdom.

For the Belgian prosecutor’s office, the channel set up by the traffickers is suspected of having transported up to several tens of refugees from Asia, from Vietnam in particular, every day for several months. It would also have facilitated the transport of the 39 migrants found dead on October 23 by the British police in an industrial area in Grays (Essex).

Other arrests, including the alleged organizer of the rotation of the various drivers who led to the tragedy, five people, including Maurice Robinson, 25, the driver of the truck intercepted in Grays, were carried out. In early April, he had pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter before a London court.