77 Serbian migrant smugglers srrested by Europol

On Wednesday, a large international criminal network that helped smuggle migrants to Western Europe was dismantled by European police forces.

Some 77 people of different nationalities were arrested in an operation coordinated by Europol, which used the services from police from several countries. In a statement, which was released by Europol, it was mentioned that the arrests were made in Hungary, Kosovo, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Austria, Germany and France.

The statement went on to say that migrants often travelled on their own to Serbia where they met with facilitators, who then smuggled them into Hungary. When the migrants finally arrived, a different cell of the criminal network dealt with migrants who were considered irregular.

Often, the migrants in Hungary claimed asylum before they went on to being smuggled onwards to countries such as Italy, Germany, France and Switzerland, which are considered to be preferable destinations for the migrants.

The facilitators charged approximately EUR 7,000 for a family or EUR 2,800 per person. These payments were made prior to their travel via Western Union and other such money transfer services.

Numerous false documents, computers, cars and EUR 52,000 in cash were seized by European police forces in raids, which were coordinated simultaneously.