Chinese trafficking gang busted

The Dover tragedy left 58 would-be Chinese immigrants dead

Police in France have broken up a Chinese human trafficking and money laundering operation - believed to be the biggest of its kind in the country.

Police sources say the network was uncovered after they raided two foreign exchange offices in Paris.

According to reports, illegal earnings from business deals conducted through Chinese restaurants and shops around France were passed through the offices and then sent legally to bank accounts in China.

Earlier this month, 60 illegal Chinese immigrants were discovered in a sealed compartment in the back of a truck arriving in Britain from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge. All but two of them were dead.

The French operation is thought to have laundered almost $250m in the past 18 months. An average of $508,000 was deposited daily at the exchange offices.

Human traffic

The money was then used to finance the trafficking of illegal immigrants to Europe.

Nine gang leaders were remanded in jail, while a further 18 people were detained for questioning.

According to police the gangs had two routes of getting illegal immigrants into France: overland through eastern Europe and via Austria, and direct by air for those who could afford forged travel documents.

Those attempting to get into France paid the gang between $6,600 and $16,900.

Long investigation

Police had been investigating the operation since January 1999.

A police raid, in which $898,000 was seized, was carried out on Tuesday.

About $4.6m has been frozen in the bank accounts of the gang leaders.