French court convicts 18 in a major trial that casts light on the deadly migrant-smuggling trade

Associated Press

LILLE, France (AP) — A French court has found 18 defendants guilty in a migrant-smuggling trial linked to the perilous English Channel route from France to the U.K. One of the ringleaders, from Iraq, was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison and fined $218,000. The defendants in the trial in Lille, northern France, were swept up in a major European police operation in July 2022. The trial has shed light on the migrant-smuggling business in what has been a particularly deadly year for the many thousands of men, women and children who attempt the France-to-Britain sea crossing on small and often dangerously overloaded boats.