French security forces believe that between January and June last year, 26 smuggling trips were made in transport arranged by a small family firm which, over the whole year, would have shipped around 500 migrants across Europe, mainly from France to Portugal.
Last weekend, four people were detained in the Paris region for "helping the entry, movement and irregular stay of a foreigner in France."
Police in May 2016 found that more than 20 illegal immigrants from India and Pakistan were onboard a truck driven by a French woman of Portuguese origin from La Courneuve, on the outskirts of Paris, to Portugal.
The driver was investigated and the polcie soon found the "existence of a family structure that shipped migrants from France to other Schengen countries, mainly Spain but especially Portugal.
The three organisers have been arrested and charged - the company owner, his partner and his son.
The security forces estimate that last year alone, 60 journeys shipped 530 illegal immigrants across Europe would have earned the organisers around €132,000.
Portugal's border security forces have been blissfully unaware that these journeys were taking place on a regular basis and that illegal immigrants were entering the country: therefore the whereabouts of the illegal immigrants in Portugal is not known.
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