Authorities catch group trafficking Afghans to Europe

Police have detained 24 people in the UK and Spain after busting a gang that made an estimated US$4.25m in half a year from trafficking Afghan migrants to Europe, announced the Spanish government.

Authorities in Spain arrested 13 suspects and UK police detained 11 at London’s Heathrow Airport, said the Spanish police.

They raided a number of properties and confiscated records that showed how much money the gang made by trafficking 170 Afghan migrants from April to September in 2014.

The statement said that the majority of the group’s members were based in the South Asia country and rounded up people who wanted to flee the country and emigrate to Europe. They charged US$25,000 per person and used fake travel documents to get them across borders.

Police launched an investigation into the network after detaining a group of Afghans in Bilbao’s airport in Spain’s Basque region.

Earlier in May, Spanish police revealed that they arrested 80 suspected members of people smuggling networks accused of charging 20,000 euros per person to bring Chinese migrants to the UK, the US, Canada and Ireland.