A major international people-smuggling gang has been dismantled following a year-long investigation in Germany and Austria. Thirty individuals have been arrested, some of whom have already been sentenced, while others remain in custody or are still being sought.
The group is believed to have trafficked around 2,000 people from spring to November 2023 via the Balkan route into Central Europe, generating an estimated €4 million in revenue.
Smuggling Operation
On the night of 17 October 2023, two vehicles were intercepted on either side of the German-Austrian border. In a car stopped in the Bavarian Forest, officers discovered four Turkish nationals, including a baby, along with two Syrian smugglers. A second vehicle, detained in Mühlviertel, was found to contain 17 people, with a driver from Iraq. “They were crammed into a mid-range car like cargo: 12 children and five adults,” said Erwin Pilgerstorfer, district police commander for Urfahr-Umgebung in Upper Austria, during a press conference in Germany on Monday. This marked the start of a thorough investigation.
Authorities later arrested at least 30 suspects, mainly from Syria, including 17 drivers, seven “Hawala bankers” who facilitated illegal money transfers, as well as housing agents, a fleet manager, and several key coordinators. The gang’s leader was sentenced to five years and seven months in November at Passau District Court in Germany.
Other members have been handed multi-year prison sentences, with many still in pre-trial detention. The investigation revealed the gang’s brutality, which endangered both the trafficked individuals and their own members, as well as other road users.
Role of Mobile Phones
Social media played a key role in the operation, according to Thomas Eberl from the Federal Police at Munich Airport, with smugglers using the platform to make contact with their victims. The seizure of three mobile phones, one belonging to the gang’s leader, proved crucial. Analysis of chat logs provided irrefutable evidence against two Syrians, who were found to have been involved in 19 smuggling trips, transporting around 100 people.
In total, 20 mobile phones were seized, containing thousands of messages and chats, which were vital in building the case against the group. Chats revealed that smuggling fees for a journey from Afghanistan could reach €15,000. One individual was even found to have transported €20 million in cash in garbage bags, highlighting the scale of the operation.
‘Highly Organised’ Operation
Pilgerstorfer described the gang’s operation as highly organised, with many members using their asylum seeker status to recruit others. The smuggling vehicles were often in poor condition, without proper registration, and sometimes had fake number plates attached. Drivers were given crystal meth and synthetic drugs to encourage them to take extreme risks, as shown in a video of a high-speed police chase. The gang also showed ruthless behaviour towards its own members, with reports of those attempting to cooperate with authorities being punished.
