Heavily armed anti-terror police carried out a sweeping raid targeting a vast Iraqi-dominated human smuggling network operating across Europe early on Wednesday morning.
The operation spanned multiple German cities, including Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Grevenbroich, and Bochum, as well as France, deploying over 500 federal police officers, Europol agents, and investigators from France and the United Kingdom.
As Bild reported, the raids focused on an Iraqi smuggling network accused of facilitating the illegal transport of migrants from the Middle East and Africa into European countries.
Law enforcement stormed apartment buildings, warehouses, and an asylum center, detaining suspects linked to the network. More than 10 European arrest warrants were executed during the operation.
Authorities report that smuggling operations like these are surging, with 7,924 smuggling cases recorded in 2023, marking a 60 percent increase from the previous year and the highest figure since the 2015 migrant crisis. Investigators revealed that smugglers often charge exorbitant fees, with individuals paying up to €10,000 for passage and inflatable boat journeys costing hundreds of thousands of euros.
“Smugglers prioritize profit over human lives,” one investigator told the German tabloid. “In some cases, this is more lucrative than drug trafficking.”
The operation is part of a larger investigation led by French authorities. So far in 2024, over 71,000 unauthorized entries into Germany have been detected, with the federal police stepping up border controls in response to the ongoing crisis.
Heiko Teggatz, chairman of the Federal Police Union, emphasized the urgency of dismantling these smuggling networks, warning of a potential resurgence of 2015 levels due to the escalating conflicts in the Middle East. “Criminal smugglers are waiting to exploit the situation. Germany cannot withstand another wave like 2015,” Teggatz said.
Despite prior crackdowns, new smuggling networks continue to emerge, underscoring the complexity of the problem. Federal investigators are pursuing over 4,400 suspects, with foreign nationals accounting for 90 percent of the accused smugglers.
