People smugglers arrested

The Hague, the Netherlands (Pressweb) -  With the support of Europol, German Police this morning arrested five facilitators of illegal immigration, among those three main suspects. In the early hours, investigators searched a total of 18 premises in Berlin, Brandenburg and Sachsen. Besides evidential material, more than 55 000 euros in cash and several computers were seized.

Nine illegal immigrants from Vietnam were found during the house searches, some of whom are also suspected of committing narcotic offences and offences involving the illegal possession of weapons.
 
The investigations, supported by Europol, focused on more than 20 suspects who smuggled the illegal immigrants with a so-called guarantee. This implied that the people were guaranteed they would reach their final destination, even when previous smuggling attempts had failed.
 
The price for the entire ‘guaranteed’ journey was approximately 10 000 euros and would take from a few days up to many weeks. The families of the illegal immigrants would often sell their houses and property to fund the journey, resulting in substantial debt. Having done so, they received a guarantee from the facilitators that their relative would successfully reach the final destination.
 
The route used by the immigrants involved a flight from Vietnam to Moscow, Russia or the Czech Republic and from there by car to Berlin, where they were placed in temporary safe houses. In some cases the immigrants were required to sell illegal cigarettes to finance their onward journey to Western Europe - mainly France and the United Kingdom. According to reports from some of the smuggled immigrants, the UK is considered a dream destination by the Vietnamese as they can readily earn money as gardenerss supervising and protecting illegal cannabis factories.
 
More than 250 investigators from the German Federal Police and Berlin Police, supervised by the Berlin State Prosecutor’s Office, took part in the large operation this morning.
 
Europol experts were present at the coordination centre to provide technical expertise and operational analysis support, due to the large quantity of house searches carried out. During the investigation phase, Europol prepared several intelligence reports and facilitated the exchange of information. New criminal links were discovered by Europol in close cooperation with national experts.