A people smuggling gang which buried deflated dinghies on a beach and charged up to 3,000 euros a crossing has been dismantled.

A four-month Anglo French investigation into an Afghan group believed to be aiding Channel crossings into Kent began in November.

Officers from the National Crime Agency and French illegal immigration unit OCRIEST surveilled the gang, steadily linking them to crossings.

Last week French police made ten arrests in the Yvelines region, west of Paris.

Eight of those arrested were later charged with facilitating illegal immigration by a French magistrate.

Three were remanded into custody, all suspected of being gang organisers.

The gang have been accused of buying second-hand boats from classified adverts placed online, then deflating them and burying them on beaches along the coast of the Pas-de-Calais region ready to be used.

Seating 10 to 15 people, each passenger would be charged between 2,500 and 3,000 euros by the gang to make the treacherous journey.

The apprehended gang have been linked to at least six attempted crossings, three of which were stopped by French authorities.

Miles Bonfield, head of organised immigration crime operations for the NCA, heralded the arrests.

He said: “Operations like these demonstrate the benefits of us working closely with our French counterparts.

"Through the Joint Intelligence Cell we now have NCA officers on the ground in France, sharing intelligence and working together, day in day out.

“These people smuggling networks are callous and show no care for the safety of the people they transport, putting them in small dinghies that are unfit for this type of crossing.

“Working with our law enforcement partners in France and elsewhere we are determined to do all we can to disrupt and dismantle these networks, who are putting lives at risk.”

Since July - when the NCA established a Joint Intelligence Cell with the French police unit OCRIEST - more than 180 suspected facilitators have been arrested.

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