Coordinated by Europol
Major raids in over 20 locations: Federal police arrest numerous smugglers
Watch the video: Europol raid against smugglers – arrests in several federal states
Video source: rtl.de
They are said to have brought migrants across the English Channel to Great Britain: emergency services have now arrested at least 15 smugglers.
By Lisa Plank
It is shortly before 6 a.m. and a black-masked special operations team is taking position in front of an apartment building in Düsseldorf. It is still dark, the streets are deserted, only the chirping of birds can be heard. But suddenly a bang breaks the silence. A door is blown open, windows are broken – and police officers break into an apartment in the apartment building. That’s how it is on video footage from star and RTL.
This Wednesday morning, a major raid took place at over 20 locations against suspected members of a Kurdish smuggling network. The operation was coordinated by Europol; the German Federal Police, the Osnabrück State Criminal Police Office and the Belgian and French police authorities were involved. The focus of the operation in Germany was North Rhine-Westphalia, with further raids taking place in Bavaria, Hesse and Schleswig-Holstein.
“For us, this operation shows that you can only fight international networks internationally,” says Jan Op Gen Oorth, press spokesman for Europol star and RTL. The suspects are said to have smuggled migrants across the English Channel into Great Britain, an ever-growing trend. For this reason, in the north of France, identification and a telephone number have been required for several years when purchasing certain boats and boat engines – a regulation that was introduced as a measure to combat smuggling into Great Britain.
In Germany alone, at least 15 of the smugglers were imprisoned
The network is said to have been particularly unscrupulous in transferring the migrants. “What we often see is that smugglers provide small inflatable boats, overload them and then order the migrants to always go straight,” says Jan Op Gen Oorth. Migrants from North Africa and the Middle East are making their way to Great Britain in overcrowded rubber boats, many of whom have family there. A fact that the smugglers exploit. “These networks are very flexible and entrepreneurially very clever. They recognize incredibly quickly where you can make money,” says Jan Op Gen Oorth. The network is said to have made double-digit million profits from smuggling across the English Channel.
Now at least 15 of the smugglers have been arrested in Germany alone, Europol reported on Wednesday afternoon. This is also the case in Düsseldorf. Here, in the apartment in the apartment building, the police were successful.
The neighbors did not know the man whose apartment was stormed by the emergency squad in the early hours of the morning. “They greeted me and I greeted them, nothing more,” says a resident opposite star and RTL.
Four hours after the emergency services stormed the apartment, they led a man out of the house. As he crosses the threshold, he looks up briefly, his gaze fixed on the cameras of the press representatives. “Why are they taking photos of me?” he asks the police officer next to him. “It’s the press,” he replies. “Fuck the press,” he says. “This is part of a democratic state,” says the police officer and leads the man into the emergency vehicle.