The Styrian police have broken up an international gang of people smugglers. At least seven men were arrested, and the two alleged main perpetrators are now in custody in Graz.
The gang is said to have brought more than 100 people from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq illegally to Styria, from where some of the refugees drove on. The organization is said to have raised a total of 280,000 euros in this way.
Seven suspects caught
The breaking up of the gang is the result of years of investigations by the Styrian State Criminal Police Office. Between September 2019 and March 2021, officials had already caught seven men who apparently belonged to the same network. The men, aged 24 to 47, came from Iraq, Pakistan, Georgia and Ukraine. Some of them have already been brought to trial, have been convicted and are in detention.
The investigations with international participation ultimately led to the two backers, a 40-year-old Iraqi and a 42-year-old Tunisian. The men were arrested in Poland at the end of last year and extradited to Austria. They are waiting for their trial in the Graz-Jakomini prison.
The organization around the two main suspects is said to have dragged a total of 102 people via Croatia and Slovenia to Austria on 42 trips. A police spokesman says that she acted very professionally and describes the procedure: “She worked with vehicles ahead of them, which reported any controls.” In addition, they used smaller, not consistently controlled border crossings.
Exposed in underground garages
A large proportion of the refugees were abandoned in Graz in underground car parks, for example in shopping centers, where people are likely to have been less noticeable.
In contrast to most of the already convicted accomplices, the two main suspects did not confess.
Source: Nachrichten
