TIRANA, Jan. 20, 2022 – A large multinational organized crime group involved in migrant smuggling has been busted through cooperation of police in Albania, Greece and Italy supported by Europol and Eurojust, EU’s law enforcement officials said in a statement.
Police said searches conducted in 28 location, 15 in Albania, 2 in Greece and 11 in Italy led to 29 arrests – 18 in Albania, 1 in Greece and 10 in Italy.
The group is believed to have made hundreds of million euros for smuggling more than 1,100 migrants into the EU. The sea transfers were performed with the use of leisure vessels, mainly yachts, acquired or rented by the criminal network and skippered by novice seamen purposely recruited by the network, law enforcement officials said.
Authorities believe that the suspects, mainly of Iraqi and Syrian origin, are part of a criminal network of about 80 members that is allegedly responsible for at least 30 sea smuggling operations.
The criminal group operated migrant smuggling activities from Turkey to the Salento coast of Italy via Albania and Greece, then to other EU countries. The investigation started with the detection of an ongoing smuggling operation, which saw the successful rescue of the transported migrants and the arrest of eight low-level smugglers.
The criminal networks primarily used sea routes for the transfer of migrants from Turkey, via the Eastern Mediterranean road, to their final EU destinations.
Europol said it supported this investigation for over 18 months, facilitating the secure exchange of information and the organization of operational meetings between the investigators, also providing the law enforcement partners with regular intelligence analysis packages.
