Story thread · 3 reports / 3 sources

Deal to 'tighten net' around people smugglers agreed by UK and Belgium

thenationalnews.com · 4dShare

A deal to allow police to cut through bureaucracy and pursue people smugglers has been struck between the UK and Belgium. Law enforcement officers from the two nations will now be able to share intelligence without needing the permission of a judge, after the agreement was signed by UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Belgian Interior Minister Bernard Quintin. Belgium has been used as a logistical hub for people smugglers to hide boats and engines before they are transported to the French coast, from where migrants are crammed on to boats to cross the English Channel. People smugglers have also been increasingly using Belgium 's shores to transport migrants to Britain after tighter controls were applied ​along the French coast. Joint activity between the UK and Belgium has led to 50 arrests linked to migrant smuggling this year. Last year, a boat supplier to people-smuggling gangs in the English Channel was sentenced to 11 years in jail and fined €400,000 ($465,000) by a court in Bel

First report: Mahmood agrees Channel migrant intelligence deal with Belgium — standard.co.uk, 5d