THE HAGUE, The Netherlands
Seventy-seven people suspected of large-scale migrant smuggling from Kosovo to the EU have been arrested in recent days in seven European countries, authorities said Wednesday.
Europol said in a statement that the operation, which was ongoing until Tuesday, arrested 16 people in Austria, 16 in the Czech Republic, 16 in Kosovo, 12 in France, 11 in Hungary, four in Germany and two in Slovakia.
The law enforcement and judicial authorities of the countries involved were supported by Europol, Eurojust and Switzerland, the statement said.
It added that the organized criminal network was made up mainly of individuals originating from Kosovo, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia.
“The criminal network recruited irregular migrants in Kosovo and organized their illegal entry into the EU,” Europol said, adding that “the migrants typically travelled to Serbia on their own where they made contact with facilitators, who subsequently smuggled them into Hungary by crossing the green border.”
The statement said that upon their arrival in Hungary, the irregular migrants were handled by another cell of the same criminal network. “In many cases, the migrants claimed asylum in Hungary prior to being smuggled onwards to their final destinations in Switzerland, Italy, Germany and France.”
Europol said that the facilitators charged around €2,800 per person or €7,000 for a whole family to organize a trip from Kosovo to France, with the money paid in cash or using Western Union or MoneyGram transfers.
Police sequestrated vehicles, mobile phones, SIM cards, computers, hard drives, forged travel documents, various bank or supporting documents and more than €52,000 in cash.
Tens of thousands of Kosovo citizens have illegally migrated to the EU countries through Serbia in the recent months, despite Kosovan and EU authorities warned of a zero percent chance of getting asylum in the EU.
Kosovo authorities, including Prime Minister Isa Mustafa and Deputy Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, have repeatedly accused criminal clans of misleading Kosovo citizens for their gains.
