29 Nov, 2012 @ 08:00
1 min read

People smuggling crackdown in Spain and the UK

UK Border Agency

A MAJOR investigation to crack down on gangs smuggling into the UK via Spain has resulted in the arrests of 19 people.

The UK Border Agency and the Guardia Civil made the arrests as part of Operation MARLO following raids on addresses in Alicante, Madrid, London and Hull.

Those arrested were suspected of assisting Iranian migrants to reach the UK from mainland Europe.

The gang is said to have been contacted by up to 100 potential customers per month and was charging clients up to €18,000 each.

Simon Cooper, from the UK Border Agency covering Spain, said: “Spain is becoming a hard place for organised immigration crime to operate and criminals now know that they will be disrupted and brought to justice.”

Anyone with information about immigration crime can pass it on via Crimestoppers at http://www.crimestoppers-uk.org/

Jon Clarke (Publisher & Editor)

Jon Clarke is a Londoner who worked at the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday as an investigative journalist before moving to Spain in 2003 where he helped set up the Olive Press.

After studying Geography at Manchester University he fell in love with Spain during a two-year stint teaching English in Madrid.

On returning to London, he studied journalism and landed his first job at the weekly Informer newspaper in Teddington, covering hundreds of stories in areas including Hounslow, Richmond and Harrow.

This led on to work at the Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Mirror, Standard and even the Sun, before he landed his first full time job at the Daily Mail.

After a year on the Newsdesk he worked as a Showbiz correspondent covering mostly music, including the rise of the Spice Girls, the rivalry between Oasis and Blur and interviewed many famous musicians such as Joe Strummer and Ray Manzarak, as well as Peter Gabriel and Bjorn from Abba on his own private island.

After a year as the News Editor at the UK’s largest-selling magazine Now, he returned to work as an investigative journalist in Features at the Mail on Sunday.

As well as tracking down Jimi Hendrix’ sole living heir in Sweden, while there he also helped lead the initial investigation into Prince Andrew’s seedy links to Jeffrey Epstein during three trips to America.

He had dozens of exclusive stories, while his travel writing took him to Jamaica, Brazil and Belarus.

He is the author of three books; Costa Killer, Dining Secrets of Andalucia and My Search for Madeleine.

Contact jon@theolivepress.es

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