A shootout occurred between elite French police unit and human traffickers early Saturday at a motorway service area near Dijon, as part of a surveillance operation targeting a human smuggling network between France and the United Kingdom. One police officer was injured and one of the suspects died.
The incident occurred at a service area on the A31 near Selongey (Côte d’Or) during a police operation connected to an investigation in the Paris region for “assisting illegal residence by organised gang and conspiracy,” said Dijon prosecutor Olivier Caracotch in a statement.
The case is being handled by the Office for Combating Illicit Migration (Oltim) and focuses on a smuggling ring between France and the United Kingdom involving “extremely violent” networks, a source close to the investigation told AFP.
Two RAID officers, part of a specialised organised crime intervention unit, were tracking a British-registered vehicle.
Around 1:00 am, they were in their vehicle at the service area when they were “suddenly targeted by automatic gunfire” from two men who emerged from the car under surveillance, according to Olivier Caracotch.
The officers returned fire with their service weapons. The suspects fled, but their car was found crashed a few hundred metres away. A man was discovered nearby, “fatally wounded,” while four others escaped.
Three of the suspects, Iraqi nationals from Kurdistan, were later arrested with the help of “aerial resources deployed by the national gendarmerie.”
They were “immediately taken into custody for attempted murder of a police officer,” while the fourth suspect remains “actively sought,” stated Olivier Caracotch.
The officer, who was shot in the leg, is expected to recover, according to the prosecutor.
