More than 100 arrested as police smash trafficking gang bringing Iranian migrants to UK

Police have smashed a smuggling ring that brought Iranian migrants as young as five into the UK illegally.

More than 100 people have been arrested as part of an international operation, with officers in the UK rushing to intercept the leader of the crime gang at Heathrow Airport as he attempted to flee to Brazil.

The authorities closed in after seven Iranian nationals were caught with fake passports trying to board a commercial flight from Hamburg in Germany, according to Europol, the EU's law enforcement agency.

In all, some 44 Iranian nationals were stopped at airports across Europe and were found to be carrying forged passports.

Spanish police rounded up 14 members of the trafficking gang in Malaga, southern Spain, where their operations were based.

The gang charged migrants €25,000 (£22,380) for forged Spanish passports, travel documents, transfers and accommodation at their intended destination.

Another 42 people accused of selling their Spanish identity documents to the smuggling ring for between €500 and €3,000 euro (£445 and £2,680) had been arrested, bringing the total to 101.

Searches of safe houses in Spain found seven Iranians, including a five-year-old child, as well as computers printers, more than 400 blank ID cards, firearms and 40 authentic Iranian and Spanish passports.

Europol said the group was "perfectly structured", with each member given a defined role from recruiting migrants to supplying fake documents.