German police arrest 5 Syrians linked to smuggling of Syrian migrants
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – German police found on Tuesday more than 100 Syrian migrants and arrested five others while raiding several locations in the country in connection with the suspected smuggling of migrants.
The Associated Press reported the federal police said more than 350 police officers searched apartments and other buildings and executed five arrest warrants, three in the northern town of Stade and two in the western town of Gladbeck.
They arrested five Syrian asylum-seekers already living in Germany. They had been paid around $7,400 to smuggle Syrian migrants. The police also seized cell phones, sim cards, 220,000 euros worth of gold and 16,000 euros in cash.
“The investigations in this case … show how criminal networks take advantage of the personal circumstances and (the migrants’) high motivation to flee to maximize their own profits,” according to a statement by federal police at Frankfurt airport.
Roughly one million Syrian asylum-seekers and refugees live in the EU. Germany alone hosts around 59% of them. Across Europe, Syrians have usually been provided with international protection status. However, procedures tend to be long, which is why many Syrians have taken dangerous routes to reach the continent. Around 94,000 Syrians made their way to Europe illicitly in 2022, the EU says – more than double the number in 2021.