crime
Major raid against smugglers in Berlin and Brandenburg
A police officer leaves a house in Berlin during a raid. photo
© Paul Zinken/dpa
The smugglers are said to have crammed the refugees into cars and vans to bring them through the Balkan countries to Germany. After a lengthy investigation, the police now took action.
With a large-scale raid in three federal states, the federal police are against one Smuggling gang took action. Together with the Brandenburg police, officers searched 18 apartments and other rooms in Berlin, Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt. Three suspected smugglers were arrested, a federal police spokesman said. Around 140 federal police officers and 80 police officers from Brandenburg were on duty.
The gang of ten men between the ages of 20 and 43 is said to have brought people to Germany via the Balkan route and smuggled them in. Some gang members are also said to have traded drugs. The refugees are said to have been smuggled into the backs of vans and cars under inhumane conditions. The spokesman said the investigations against the men had been ongoing since April.
One of the suspected smugglers, a 30-year-old Syrian, was reportedly caught in Berlin-Lichtenberg. He is said to have primarily organized the smuggling, but in some cases he is also said to have driven the transporters himself. The police arrested a 20-year-old in the Brandenburg town of Dallgow-Döberitz and a 27-year-old German in Luckenwalde.