Two of those arrested were “the brains behind the trafficking operations in Belgium. They controlled a whole series of little groups, sometimes working together, sometimes competing against each other. We hope that we have broken up the core of the network,” De Wolf said.

The arrests came within hours after British Immigration Minister Phil Woolas said the number of migrants allowed into the UK under the points system may have to be reduced because of the economic crisis. Woolas told The Times that immigration became an “extremely thorny” subject if people were losing their jobs. “It’s been too easy to get into this country in the past and it’s going to get harder,” he said.

The BBC recently broadcast an undercover investigation that exposed a London-based criminal network which used fake passports, identity documents and human carriers to bring in illegal migrants.