00:00Hello, I'm Digital Reporter Matthew for the Lancashire Post.
00:05A Preston man is among nine people arrested by the National Crime Agency for people smuggling and human trafficking.
00:13The National Crime Agency has arrested nine people across the UK as it collaborated with international partners on Interpol's largest ever operation targeting people smuggling and human trafficking.
00:25Officers from the NCA's Joint International Crime Centre made the arrests across Lancashire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and Kent.
00:34An additional suspect was detained in Northern Ireland.
00:37Interpol's National Central Bureau in Manchester, hosted and managed by the NCA, helped identify three suspects residing in the UK.
00:45Those arrested include a 35-year-old man from Preston, a 32-year-old man arrested in Greater Manchester, a 52-year-old man in Kent, a 27-year-old man in Wandsworth, London, a 43-year-old man arrested in Leeds, a 32-year-old man arrested in Nottingham, a 41-year-old man arrested in Newcastle, a 50-year-old man arrested in Northern Ireland and a 43-year-old man arrested in Northamptonshire.
01:07They were arrested by NCA officers for people smuggling offences after 27 people, including 21 children, were intercepted in Tunisia attempting to travel to the UK.
01:17A 32-year-old Syrian man arrested in Nottingham and wanted in Romania is accused of transporting the migrants from Bulgaria to Romania for onward travel to the Netherlands.
01:27The other seven are wanted for people smuggling, human trafficking or modern slavery offences in France, Germany, Belgium and Romania.
01:35Extradition proceedings for all nine suspects are ongoing.
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