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Nationwide raid against an internationally operating gang of smugglers:

Since the early hours of the morning, the federal police in Berlin, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse have been executing search warrants and arrest warrants against international smugglers.

More than 400 civil servants are deployed in Berlin, Salzgitter, Twistringen near Bremen, Osnabrück, Hamm, Duisburg, Wuppertal and Marburg.

The Kempten public prosecutor's office had previously determined that the gang had organized and carried out smugglers via the so-called Balkan route since April 2019.

The 19 suspects, who are Syrian, Lebanese and Libyan nationals between the ages of 21 and 44, are currently charged with more than 20 cases of smuggling in foreigners for commercial purposes and as a gang.

In return for payment of large sums of money, it is alleged that 140 people, predominantly of Syrian origin, were smuggled into Germany by vans and cars.

According to the police, the perpetrators proceeded in a very planned and very professional manner: locations were extensively cleared up, so-called “scouts” were used, i.e. vehicles driving ahead to report police checks, and the actual border crossings, often on foot in protected terrain.

The gang leader regularly coordinated the smugglers in minute detail via smartphone, but from a safe distance.

First arrested in the act a year and a half ago

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The federal police found the smugglers in August 2019 after the arrest of a driver of the gang on the Autobahn 7 near Füssen.

The special department of the Kempten public prosecutor's office for combating international smuggling crime conducted the investigations in close cooperation with the investigative authorities in Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Netherlands and Belgium.

In addition, the investigation was supported by Europol.

As a result, the head of the smugglers' gang was arrested in Austria in December and is being extradited from Austria.

Based on the results of the investigation, the Kempten District Court issued eleven search warrants and seven arrest warrants against the other gang members.

During the large-scale operation, in which colleagues from Austria also took part, five pre-trial detention orders have been carried out so far.

Evidence was also seized, including the smartphones used in the crime.

You will now be evaluated by the Federal Police Department for Combating Crime in Munich.