Six suspected people smugglers have been picked up by the police in Linz and near Salzburg. The officers discovered 53 migrants who were apparently on their way to Germany in a small truck driven by the suspects.
At the weekend, the Austrian police arrested several suspected people smugglers who were transporting people hidden in vehicles. In Linz, 53 people were discovered on the loading area of a small truck. As the authorities in Upper Austria announced, the group with several small children was hidden behind a black tarpaulin. “The people may have been on their way to Germany,” the police continued. Four men were arrested. One of those arrested had previously attempted to escape.
According to the information, most of the people on the loading area came from Turkey, as did three of the four arrested aged 18, 24 and 28 years. For the fourth, the nationality still has to be clarified. The men are accused of smuggling.
Among arrested also a German
Two suspected smugglers were arrested in Eugendorf near Salzburg on Saturday. Officials wanted to check a suspicious pickup truck when the driver pressed the accelerator. He endangered other road users with his risky driving style. When the police sat in front of the small truck with a patrol car, the vehicle drove up. Shortly before, the driver and front passenger had changed places. The arrested are a German and a Syrian, both 21 years old. Both would now be reported for smuggling, resistance to state authority and endangering physical safety on the road.
According to the police, there were eleven “apparently escaped people” in the car, including a family with four children. Two police officers were injured in the rear-end collision, the fugitives were unharmed.
The Ministry of the Interior in Austria reports an overall falling number of illegal migration. The current number of apprehensions is more than 60 percent below that of summer 2022. The massive police measures would have contributed to this – border controls and international cooperation in combating smuggling crime are mentioned, among other things.