They are said to have smuggled over 140 people into Germany and Western Europe. Now members of a suspected smuggling gang have been handcuffed.
Raids are currently underway in several federal states against a suspected gang of people smugglers. A total of 19 locations in Thuringia, Baden-Württemberg, Schleswig-Holstein, North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony-Anhalt are being raided, said a spokesman for the Federal Police. The focus is Jena in Thuringia. The MDR had previously reported.
Arrest warrants have been executed against three Syrian and two Iraqi nationals, the spokesman said. In total, the investigations are directed against 18 suspects, from drivers to organizational level. They are said to have smuggled at least 140 people via the Western Balkan route in 2023 and 2024.
Housed in an apartment in Jena
Small vans are said to have been used for the smuggling. The people were initially housed in an apartment in Jena. According to the spokesman, so-called “Hawala banking” was used for payment. In this informal payment system, cash is transferred via middlemen.
The investigators got on the trail of the gang after several transporters were stopped on the Western Balkan route. The bigger picture emerged from these individual cases, said the Federal Police spokesman. The Gera public prosecutor’s office is conducting the investigation.
Specifically, the police searched properties in Jena, Sondershausen, Nordhausen and Bad Sulza in Thuringia, in Lübeck in Schleswig-Holstein, Vaihingen an der Enz in Baden-Württemberg, Krefeld in North Rhine-Westphalia and Zeitz in Saxony-Anhalt.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
