A man has arrested more than 27 dead migrants who drowned trying to cross the English Channel in a dinghy

Harem Ahmed Abwbaker was allegedly a member of the organized crime group that conspired to transport migrants to the UK in a small boat

Harem Ahmed Abwbaker, 32, has been arrested in Gloucestershire in connection with the deaths of at least 27 people

A man has been arrested in connection with the deaths of at least 27 migrants who drowned while trying to cross the English Channel by dinghy.

Harem Ahmed Abwbaker was arrested at an address in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire at around 6.45am on Tuesday morning.

The 32-year-old man was identified and found by the National Crime Agency, which worked with French authorities to investigate the circumstances leading to the death in November 2021.

Five women and a girl were among those killed in the tragedy, in what was described last year as the deadliest such incident on record.

Abwbaker was allegedly a member of the organized crime group that conspired to transport the migrants to the UK in a dinghy (

Picture:

Getty Images)

According to fishermen, more migrants have left the northern coasts of France than usual to take advantage of the calm sea conditions. However, the water was freezing.

A fisherman called the emergency services after seeing an empty boat and people floating motionless nearby. The ship would have sunk in the region of Calais.

Following the sinking, the Dunkirk public prosecutor's office opened a judicial investigation for "involuntary homicide" and "aid to illegal emigration in an organized gang".

It follows claims that smugglers organized the passage of the overcrowded boat, charging thousands of people on board to travel to Britain.