Members of people-smuggling gang who trafficked almost 700 migrants to the European Union from Iraq and Syria have been arrested in a series of raids across Europe.
Europe's crime agency Europol arrested 11 people in Germany, Poland and Lithuania.
The raids came at the end of a week in which more than 1,000 migrants have crossed the Channel illegally to Britain.
The migrants had been charged between €10,000 to €13,000 ($10,042- $13,055) for the smuggling service from their country of origin, via Belarus, to Germany.
The operation is estimated to have generated turnover of at least €7 million for the criminal network.
"The police investigation detected 99 incidents of the illegal transportation of migrants and discovered 662 migrants have been smuggled by the network," Europol said.
"The same criminal network had previously taken a hit in January 2022, when Polish authorities arrested 20 suspects and seized more than the equivalent of €500,000 cash in euros and dollars.
Read More : https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/uk-news/2022/07/15/people-smugglers-arrested-as-more-than-1000-migrants-cross-channel-in-a-week/
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