Five people have been arrested in Germany, the Netherlands and Bosnia in a coordinated operation against a gang accused of smuggling Syrian migrants into Europe, German authorities said on Thursday.
The suspects are Syrian nationals aged between 26 and 37, police in Munich and prosecutors in the Bavarian town of Weiden said in a statement.
They are accused of smuggling at least 500 people to Germany and elsewhere in Europe, including via the so-called Balkan route, since 2021.
However, investigators believe that the “actual number of cases is significantly higher”.
“The organisation itself says that in 2022 it was smuggling up to 480 people per day into Germany and Europe,” the statement said.
Depending on the route and the complexity of the case, the gang is believed to have charged up to 4,500 euros (5,230 dollars) per operation, earning at least 1.4 million euros between 2022 and 2025.
The police operation, which took place on Wednesday, was coordinated with the EU anti-crime bodies Europol and Eurojust, the German authorities said.
German and Dutch police also searched three apartments in the cities of Dortmund and Bochum, as well as a property in Houten in the Netherlands.
“Extensive evidence was seized, including the smartphones and vehicles used in the commission of the crime, as well as small quantities of narcotics,” the statement said.
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