They were removed as victims of smuggling, the two Albanians who trafficked immigrants to Britain suffer badly

Two Albanians who were allowed to stay in Great Britain as victims of "modern slavery" have been arrested on suspicion of running an immigrant smuggling network.

The pair arrived on a small boat last May and were detained before being released by British authorities on the claim that they were victims receiving leave and support.

However they were arrested in Belgium when the National Crime Agency and Belgian police foiled an alleged attempt to smuggle migrants into Britain using a high-speed dinghy.

The two Albanians, who lived in Basingstoke in Hampshire, allegedly took the boat from the UK to Belgium to transport 12 Albanians in the early hours of October 30, but police were waiting for the boat and arrested them on the banks of De Panne in Flanders.

The officers found 12 Albanians, among them eight men, three women and a five-year-old child, waiting for the raft to depart. The suspected smugglers are being held in a prison in Bruges, Belgium.

A third man, aged 46, was arrested by the NCA in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, later the same day on suspicion of assisting illegal immigration. He remains in custody and is being interrogated. The trio are suspected of being part of a gang behind a series of people smuggling into the UK from Europe.