French Fisherman Held for Smuggling Migrants across Channel

A young French fisherman accused of helping migrants cross the Channel to Britain was arrested with five others near the port town of Dunkirk, a judicial source said Wednesday.

The man, who is thought to be around 20, was detained on Monday along with two Vietnamese citizens and three Albanians, a judicial source in the northern city of Lille said.

The six people are currently being held in detention and could be charged by Friday, the source said.

The fisherman had been smuggling migrants to Britain "for several months" on an inflatable boat that could carry more than a dozen people. Migrants were charged between 10,000 and 12,000 euros ($11,000 to $13,000), the source added.

The boat would leave from a quiet beach near Dunkirk at night, and landed on the British shore after a perilous 90-kilometer journey.

A "large sum of money" was seized at the time of the arrest, the source said.

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve confirmed the arrest on Europe 1 radio but said it was too early to discuss the details.

"We have dismantled a very large number of networks since the start of the year," he said.

"In France, it's nearly 200 networks representing 3,000 individuals, and in the Calais region it's around 30 networks, representing 700 individuals," he said, adding that they should be "severely punished".

Although the figures pale in comparison to the numbers arriving in Germany and elsewhere, thousands of migrants have come through France this year, mostly from the Middle East and east Africa in the hope of reaching Britain.