Case of human trafficking

• 2015 - 2016
• France ,
• United Kingdom

Identification of the Source

Mindb4Act Project report.

Description

The Charlie Hebdo and kosher supermarket attacks took place in Paris in January 2015.
In April 2016 a British group smuggled the largest quantity of automatic weapons ever detected by police in the UK: the police seized 22 Kalashnikov-style assault rifles and 9 machine guns from a motorboat crossing the Channel and directed to Kent.

Type of Crime

A cross-border, organized illicit weapons smuggling.

Modus Operandi

People involved

5 people (two of them were resident in Kent, while three others were based elsewhere)

Criminal History

The weapons were sold legally by AFG Security in Slovakia as deactivated weapons, but had been illegally reactivated afterwards. This case indicates the existence of a shadow trade involving legitimate businesses and organised crime groups. It also prompts the authorities to suggest that there is a nexus between organised crime and terrorist networks.

Influential and/or vulnerable Groups

The existence of a shadow trade involving legitimate businesses and organised crime groups.
It also prompts the authorities to suggest that there is a nexus between organised crime and terrorist networks.