25 detained as Germany, France target traffickers
Print Edition
GERMAN and French authorities detained 25 people in unconnected raids on human smuggling operations, saying yesterday that they were bringing refugees into Germany by plane and sneaking others across the English Channel by boat.
German federal police said nearly 600 officers searched 24 homes in three states as part of an investigation into a smuggling ring accused of bringing primarily Lebanese and Syrian asylum seekers into Germany.
Hundreds of thousands of refugees and other migrants have flooded into the country recently seeking to escape war and poverty and start a new life. Many of them pay human smugglers to take them across borders.
The alleged head of the group of 17 suspects, who was identified only as a 24-year-old man, was arrested in the western city of Essen. Police also confiscated weapons and smuggled goods in the raids.
Federal police said the network operated mostly with forged passports and tried to bring people to Germany via plane. The traffickers charged about 10,000 euros (US$11,000 dollars) per person, which in most cases had to be paid in advance.
Many of the asylum seekers never made it to Germany, however, as their fake documents were recognized by authorities along the way.
A Lebanese family of 10 was detained in Malaysia for weeks after being stopped, police said. Eventually, they received assistance from the United Nations refugee agency in connection with the German Embassy and were allowed to travel on to Germany for humanitarian reasons.
Perilous crossing
In France, the Interior Ministry said authorities had on Monday and Tuesday detained eight people accused of involvement in smuggling migrants to Britain by rubber boat from the northern French city of Dunkirk.
The smugglers allegedly charged up to 12,000 euros for the trip, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said in a statement.
Among those arrested were five Albanians and a French fisherman accused of ferrying migrants, mainly from Vietnam and Albania, Europe-1 radio reported.
Citing police, the station said the migrants would gather on a secluded beach near Dunkirk, and up to 20 would pile into a 10-person boat.
French authorities have dismantled 200 networks and detained more than 3,000 people so far this year in investigating human trafficking networks, Cazeneuve said.
French-British cooperation against illegal migration has been reinforced since he met British Home Secretary Theresa May on Monday, he said.
Thousands of people fleeing war and poverty have gathered in French port cities and other sites in hopes of sneaking across the Channel in ferries or undersea trains to Britain. More than a dozen people have died this year attempting the perilous trip.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
