(ANSA) - BELGRADE, NOVEMBER 14 - The German and the Romanian
police, supported by Europol, have dismantled a "massive"
criminal network that was using also trucks to illegally smuggle
migrants to western Europe, the EU law enforcement agency
Europol informed today.
Europol said that the police in Romania arrested four alleged
members of the crime group, suspected of having smuggled nearly
580 migrants towards Western Europe, using the Romanian city of
Timisoara as a 'hub'.
"During the final leg of the journey to western Europe, the
migrants were forced to travel in lorries," a possible life
threatening situation, Europol noted. "Loaded into cargo
vehicles, migrants can suffer from lack of oxygen and
dehydration, risking their lives before reaching their final
destination," the agency said.
The investigation, concluded after two years, uncovered a
network composed of at least 36 members who earned more than 2
million euros from nearly 580 smuggled migrants. Austria,
Hungary, the United Kingdom and Eurojust also took part in the
operation, Europol added. (ANSA).
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