German police conducted a series of raids on Tuesday targeting suspected migrant smuggling operations, resulting in the discovery of over 100 Syrian individuals in various apartments and buildings across the country. The operation involved more than 350 federal police officers and was centered on investigating the alleged smuggling of Syrian migrants into Germany without proper legal residency documents.
As part of the operation, authorities executed five arrest warrants, apprehending three individuals in the northern town of Stade and two in the western town of Gladbeck. Notably, all five arrestees were Syrian asylum-seekers who were already residing in Germany. According to reports from the German news agency dpa, these migrants had paid sums ranging from 3,000 to 7,000 euros (equivalent to USD 3,170 to 7,400) to the suspects responsible for their smuggling. The illicit gains from these transactions were reportedly used to purchase gold.
The raids were initiated by federal police stationed at Frankfurt airport, who were acting on suspicions of organized gang involvement and commercial smuggling of foreign nationals. While the primary focus of the operation was on cities and towns in northern and western Germany, it also extended to Bavaria in the south, as per dpa’s information.
This crackdown underscores Germany’s ongoing efforts to combat illegal migration and migrant smuggling activities within its borders.
