An operation led by the Romanian Police (Poliția Română) and the Romanian Border Police (Poliția de Frontieră), supported by Europol and involving the Bulgarian General Directorate Combating Organised Crime (Главна Дирекция Борба с организираната престъпност), has resulted in the dismantling of an organised crime network involved in migrant smuggling.
The suspects were smuggling migrants from Bulgaria to Romania and then to Western Europe. Austria, Germany and Hungary also supported the investigation. Nine locations were searched (two in Arad, three in Bucharest, one in Oradea and three in Timișoara); eight arrests (Romanian and Syrian nationals); 32 migrants were found in one of the safe houses searched (nine Iraqi and 21 Syrian nationals, as well as two others with unknown nationalities); seizures include documents, electronic equipment and cash.
The investigations revealed that the criminal network, consisting mainly of Syrian and Romanian nationals, was operating from Bucharest and was using Timișoara as a hub for housing and facilitating the transport of migrants to Western Europe. The suspects recruited migrants from the Middle East, mainly Syria, who wanted to reach Western European countries, especially Germany.
The leader of the criminal network, a Syrian national who had lived in Romania for three years, had strong ties with other key organisers based in Istanbul, Türkiye. He acted as a regional coordinator for migrant smuggling activities along that leg of the route.
He allegedly recruited Romanian nationals, who usually worked as private taxi drivers, to transport the migrants. Between February and May alone, the Romanian authorities detected five smuggling incidents with a total of 70 irregular migrants. The individuals were transported in lorries concealed between merchandise. Each migrant paid between €5,000 and €10,000 for the full smuggling services until the final destination.
Europol facilitated the exchange of information and provided operational coordination and analytical support. On the “action day,” Europol deployed an analyst to Romania to cross-check operational information against Europol’s databases and to provide leads to investigators in the field. Europol also facilitated the deployment of investigators from Bulgaria to support the Romanian officers involved in the operational actions in the field.
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