Berlin, Sept 26, (dpa/GNA) – German police discovered several Syrians, believed to have been illegally smuggled into the country, during raids across five states early on Tuesday morning.
Five arrest warrants were issued for the suspected smugglers: two women and a man in Stade, Lower Saxony, and one woman and one man each in Gladbeck, North Rhine Westphalia, police told dpa.
“All five are also Syrians,” the spokesman added. The five detained were themselves asylum seekers, and had family ties to one another, he said.
In total, the suspected gang is accused of smuggling in more than 100 Syrians, he said.
Police said the suspects paid €3,000 to €7,000 ($3,175-$7,418) each, for their illegal entry into Germany.
The suspects are accused of smuggling foreigners into Germany, in an organized and commercial manner, as well as money laundering. They allegedly bought gold jewellery with the money, for example.
“That way, they are no longer sitting on the money,” the spokesman explained.
Migration has returned to the top of the political agenda in Germany, with many municipalities feeling overburdened, and accusing the government of failing to take action. The issue has seen a surge in support for the far-right Alternative for Germany, ahead of several key state elections.
Police conducted raids in the states of Lower Saxony, North Rhine Westphalia, Hesse, Bremen and Bavaria on Tuesday.
According to the police, more than 350 officers were on duty in flats and houses in seven municipalities, on behalf of the public prosecutor’s office in Stade.
Police said there are six more suspects without arrest warrants, also Syrians with family ties to the five detained suspected smugglers.
The age range of the suspected gang is from 23 to 50 years.
According to the investigations, which began in August 2022, the Syrians were first flown to Greece, where they were provided with genuine passports by their compatriots, and then brought to Germany by plane via several layovers.
Later, the suspected gang switched to sending migrants through the Balkans, to reach Germany on foot, as well as by car and truck.
Police said during the raid, which began simultaneously at all locations at 6 am (0400 GMT), mobile phones and laptops were seized, as well as a suspected smuggling car in Gladbeck.
The electronic devices will be analysed by specialists for further investigations. The officers also confiscated gold worth about €220,000 and €16,000 in cash.
A police spokesman said the investigations “show in this case how criminal networks take advantage of the personal circumstances and a high motivation to escape of the smuggled people to maximize their own profits.”
From the perpetrators’ point of view, the refugees are “a commodity, from whose transport maximum profit is to be made,” he added.
The suspected gang had cooperated with other smugglers at various points along the Balkan route, police said.
GNA