
Two Albanians were arrested in Finsbury Park, north London, on Tuesday morning for allegedly being part of a ring booking flights to the UK with false documents, according to the Home Office.
Albanian citizens were arrested after a series of police raids.
The smuggling ring allegedly booked 27 migrants on 11 flights and told them to claim asylum on arrival with their passports, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
The raid also turned up Class A drugs at the London flat.
The two were identified after officers from the Home Office's Criminal and Financial Investigations team and the Border Force linked their booking details to migrants arriving on flights illegally between July 22 and January 2023.
The news comes after seven members of the same gang were arrested in January during three raids on addresses in Finsbury Park.
All the arrested suspects have been released on bail pending further investigations.
The Minister for Countering Illegal Migration, Michael Tomlinson, said in the statement: "People smuggling networks will stop at nothing in their efforts to abuse our borders and our laws. They are putting lives at risk. It is vital that we stand up to the criminal gangs behind these crimes and thank our officers whose hard work led to the success of this operation."
The arrests come as the UK and Albania set up a new joint task force to combat illegal immigration.
Since July 1, 2021, over 8,000 Albanian citizens who have committed criminal and immigration offenses have returned, according to the Home Office.