A man from Wembley faces being extradited to Belgium to face people smuggling charges after he was arrested yesterday morning.

Khalil Alksaied Ahmed, 25, was held by officers from the National Crime Agency as part of an investigation into a gang that charged migrants up to £5,000 to be smuggled into the UK through Channel ports.

The migrants, mainly Syrians, Iraqis and Albanians, would be loaded on to lorries at motorway service stations and lay-bys in Belgium before attempting to cross to the UK.

The 25-year-old was arrested alongside Omran Hassan, 28, who was held in Birmingham.

Both men, who are Syrian nationals, appeared before Westminster Magistrates Court and were remanded in custody to appear at full extradition hearing on June 18.

In January, police in Belgium arrested 11 individuals suspected of being involved in the same network. A total of 17 migrants were also detained.

Adam Warnock, senior investigating officer for the NCA, said: “We believe this crime group is involved in attempting to smuggle people into the UK on an almost daily basis, and our co-operation with the Belgian authorities on this investigation continues.

“With our international partners we will continue to disrupt criminals involved in organised immigration crime, making it harder for them to operate across the UK border and abroad.”