In the fight against illegal entry into Germany, the federal police arrested a gang of suspected smugglers in a raid in five federal states. She is said to have smuggled in more than 100 Syrians.
During a raid in five federal states early this morning, the federal police discovered several suspected Syrians who had been smuggled into the country. Five arrest warrants were executed – against two women and a man in Stade in Lower Saxony and a woman and a man each in Gladbeck in North Rhine-Westphalia, a federal police spokesman told the dpa news agency. “All five are also Syrians,” he added. The five arrested are themselves asylum seekers and are all family members. Accordingly, there are five other suspects without arrest warrants – they are also Syrians and have a family relationship with the five suspected smugglers who were arrested.
3,000 to 7,000 euros for smuggling
Overall, the alleged gang is accused of smuggling more than 100 Syrians over time. According to the investigation, the people who were allegedly smuggled paid between 3,000 and 7,000 euros each for their illegal entry into Germany, the spokesman said.
In addition to gang and commercial smuggling of foreigners, the suspects are also accused of money laundering: They used their illegal income to buy gold jewelry, for example.
According to the information, during the raid that began simultaneously at all locations at 6 a.m., the federal police seized, among other things, cell phones and laptops as well as a suspected smuggler’s car in Gladbeck. The electronic devices would now be evaluated. A search was also underway for “assets”.
As the Federal Police Directorate at Frankfurt am Main Airport announced, more than 350 officers were deployed in apartments and houses in seven municipalities on behalf of the Stade public prosecutor’s office: in Stade (Lower Saxony), Gladbeck (North Rhine-Westphalia), Fulda, Kassel (both Hesse), Bremen, Balge (Lower Saxony) and Kelheim (Bavaria).
Investigations since 2022
According to the investigations that began in 2022, Syrians were first flown to Greece, given real passports from compatriots and then brought to Germany via intermediate stops, including by plane. The alleged gang later switched to the so-called Balkan route, through which the illegal immigrants reached Germany on foot, by car and truck.
fight against Smuggling crime
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser recently announced that she wanted to step up the fight against human smuggling. Also because the number of illegal people smuggling at the borders has recently increased significantly, for example in Brandenburg on the German-Polish border. In the past two weeks, 550 people were found by the state police to have been brought illegally across the border, said Interior Minister Michael Stübgen (CDU). In addition, on average, the federal police forward more than 50 people who have been apprehended illegally entered the country to the initial reception center per day – after an average of 35 in August.
It is currently being discussed whether stationary border controls can curb illegal migration to Germany.