Dods EU Alert: Europol - Major people smuggling criminal network dismantled across Europe - 103 suspects arrested‏

interesting-informations...
h.

> ...
> Sent: 31 January 2013..
> Subject: Dods EU Alert: Europol - Major people smuggling criminal
> network dismantled across Europe - 103 suspects arrested
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> Dods EU Alert
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> Source: Europol
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> Subject: Major people smuggling criminal network dismantled across
> Europe - 103 suspects arrested
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> Date published: January 30 2013
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> Yesterday, 29 January 2013, a total of 103 persons suspected of
> being part of a people-smuggling network were arrested throughout
> Europe. 10 European countries and EULEX (European Union Rule of Law
> Mission in Kosovo) were involved in the common action supported and
> coordinated by Europol.
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> In the early hours the suspects were arrested in Croatia, Czech
> Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Slovak
> Republic, Turkey and Kosovo region. Other coercive measures were
> carried out in Switzerland; Austria also supported the common action.
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> All arrested persons are suspected of being involved in the
> clandestine smuggling of a large number of irregular migrants into
> and within the European Union mainly via Turkey and the Western
> Balkan region.
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> The irregular migrants were recruited mainly in Afghanistan, Iraq,
> Pakistan, Syria and Turkey by the criminal network, which was using
> various modi operandi to smuggle them into and within the EU. The
> migrants were often smuggled in inhuman and dangerous conditions,
> such as in very small hidden compartments in the floor of buses or
> trucks, in freight trains or on boats. In some cases falsified
> travel documents were used by the migrants. Marriages of
> convenience were also used as a modus operandi to regularise their
> status in the EU.
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> This is one of the largest co-ordinated actions against people
> smugglers made at a European level, involving more than 1200 police
> officers.
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> In total 117 house searches and searches of other properties were
> carried out. During the searches, mobile telephones, laptops, bank
> statements, a semi-automatic rifle with a large amount of
> ammunition and more than 176 500 EUR in cash were seized.
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> In September 2011 Austria and Hungary launched a joint response to
> the significant increase in illegal immigration into their
> countries by establishing Project FIMATHU (Facilitated Illegal
> Immigration Affecting Austria and Hungary). As a result, over 7.500
> irregular migrants have been apprehended and 891 smuggling
> incidents identified in total in the two countries. The successful
> results have meant that interest in the project has grown and there
> are 10 new members of the project, namely: Bulgaria; Croatia; Czech
> Republic; Germany; Poland; Romania; Serbia; Slovakia, Slovenia and
> Switzerland. Recently Bosnia and Herzegovina and EULEX have also
> been invited to join the project. The common goal of the Project
> FIMATHU is to disrupt and dismantle the illegal immigration
> networks operating via the Western Balkans as well as in other
> European countries.
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> Europol supported the investigations by facilitating the
> information exchange amongst the respective countries and by
> providing operational analysis and other operational support
> throughout the investigation. Within the Project FIMATHU all
> relevant criminal intelligence has been shared with Europol,
> including data extracted from over 500 seized mobile phones.
> Europol has been processing and analysing the data to find
> important links between Austria, Hungary and the source and transit
> countries, and to identify the criminal networks organising the
> illegal immigration.
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> During the common action day Europol deployed one mobile office to
> Germany to support the operation with on-the-spot analysis. The
> International Coordination Centre was set up at Europol and was
> staffed by senior investigators from those countries in which
> arrests took place to coordinate the pan-European action and to
> conduct cross-checking and provide analysis of the data generated.
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> ...
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Bron : hagen kopp