Children crammed into box vans – smugglers arrested again

At the Deutschkreutz border crossing (Oberpullendorf district), police officers discovered 46 migrants on Sunday night after they stopped a box truck and heard voices coming from the hold. The suspected smuggler was arrested, a police spokesman confirmed a corresponding media report.

Also on Sunday night, the handcuffs clicked for another suspected smuggler in Vienna-Wieden. As the state police headquarters announced, officers from the emergency response unit (BE) noticed a suspicious box van in Weyringergasse shortly after 2 a.m. They stopped the vehicle, whereupon the driver and his passenger jumped out of the car and ran away in different directions. 16 people were subsequently discovered in the hold.

Police spokesman Philipp Haßlinger told the APA that those suspected of being dragged were eleven men, four women and one child. Their nationality is still being determined; some of them were able to communicate with a police officer of Turkish origin.

Attempt to escape failed

The police were able to stop the driver of the vehicle from attempting to escape. The man was caught up by officers and arrested on suspicion of smuggling. The identity of the suspect is still unknown; he refused to provide any information. The passenger, however, managed to escape, but the search for the man was initially unsuccessful. The people suspected of being trafficked – no information about their origin or age was initially available – applied for international protection. They had no injuries and were temporarily arrested. The vehicle, navigation device and mobile phones were seized. The Vienna State Criminal Police Office is entrusted with further investigations.

In the case in Burgenland, there was initially no reliable information about the origin of the smuggler or the refugees. According to the “Kronen Zeitung” they are said to be Turks and Syrians. They probably left Serbia and had been traveling for hours before the van was stopped in central Burgenland. A spokesman for the Burgenland State Police Department explained when asked that the officers noticed noises and smells when they stopped. The 46 migrants were housed in a very small space and there were no injuries.

“Massive police measures are having an effect”

The Interior Ministry pointed out on Sunday that the “massive police measures” against human smugglers – at the borders, in the hinterland, abroad – would have an effect. There has been a decline in apprehensions for several months – in the summer of 2023 by more than 60 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. The decisive factors for this are an intensive fight against smuggling crime and asylum abuse, consistent border checks and border area controls in Austria as well as the fight against smuggling on routes abroad by Austrian police officers in Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Hungary.

In a statement sent to the APA, the Federal Criminal Police Office emphasized that the main route of the smuggling organizations currently operating towards Central Europe still runs through Hungary and Serbia: “There are bilateral and multilateral police measures against these criminal structures.” In addition, Romania also plays a central role in combating smuggling networks in Eastern Europe. “Although the number of apprehensions in Austria is falling sharply, the migration pressure on the Balkan route is still very high. This is the breeding ground on which the smuggling networks operate. The smugglers are trying to adapt to the circumstances existing in the respective countries. If the control pressure is at certain points “Smugglers naturally try to find ways to evade these controls,” the Federal Criminal Police Office noted.

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