TWO addreses in Kent were raided this morning as part of a huge police investigation into a large-scale pan-European human smuggling ring.

Two men and a woman were arrested at a residential address in Bexleyheath, the men on suspicion of facilitation human smuggling and money laundering offences respectively, and the woman on suspicion of interfering with the inquiry.

In total 19 people were arrested across Kent, London and Lincolnshire in the early hours by specialist police teams in an intelligence operation, code named Bluesky.

The organised criminal network is thought to have been behind the smuggling of illegal immigrants, predominately from Turkey, into the UK by a variety of methods through ports in Holland, Italy, France and Belgium.

Detectives from the MPS’s Specialist Crime Directorate have led on the two year operation, with support from Central Operations, Special Intelligence Section, HR Directorate, Territorial Policing Units and Lincolnshire Police.

The Metropolitan Police has also worked closely with police services from France, Holland, Denmark, Italy and Belgium as well as the agencies Europol (which represents pan-Europe policing activity), and Eurojust (which represents a co-ordinated response to pan-Europe prosecutions).

More than 200 officers from the Metropolitan Police were responsible for the arrests.

The head of the Met Police’s Specialist Crime Directorate, Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur said: "We have today dismantled a huge organised criminal network in human smuggling.

"Our commitment is in taking out such networks and this operation is the latest in our collaboration with a growing number of law enforcement agencies in Europe to work robustly to achieve this mission."

Speaking on Tuesday, Det Ch Supt Bill Skelly, head of the Metropolitan Police Service’s Operation Maxim, which tackles all forms of trafficking, said: "Today’s arrests were the result of a co-ordinated response involving numerous parts of the Metropolitan Police Service, and in close cooperation with partner agencies across London and Europe, sharing their expertise and working closely together.

"Under Operation Maxim, the Metropolitan Police Service continues to enhance its efforts against those seeking to make profit from the illegal movement of people into the United Kingdom."

* Did you witness the raids? If you did please contact the Kent Messenger Group's Bexley Extra newsdesk on 020 8308 7403 or email bexleyextra@thekmgroup.co.uk