Brussels – A coordinated international operation dealt a “major blow” to two international migrant smuggling networks, said Europol, the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation. A joint task force comprising German and Serbian authorities has led to the arrest of three “high-value targets” allegedly involved in organising large‑scale migrant‑smuggling operations in countries “with close links to Libya and the Western Balkans.”
The international operation coordinated by Europol is reported to have dismantled two trafficking networks that are alleged to have organised the transfer of over 900 irregular migrants, exposing them to “life-threatening conditions” during the journey and generating substantial illicit profits for the criminal organisations involved.
The first network, linked to a militia operating in Libya, is alleged to have organised sea crossings from Libya to the island of Lampedusa on board overcrowded vessels unfit for navigation. According to the authorities, the boats carried up to 61 migrants without life jackets or any other safety equipment. The migrants, mainly Syrian nationals, are said to have paid between 6,500 euros and 7,800 euros for the journey, before being transferred to Germany via further smuggling networks.
Precisely on the Lampedusa route, in 2023, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, visited the Sicilian island to present a ten-point ad hoc plan to manage the routes used by migrants arriving in the EU.
The second criminal organisation, on the other hand, operated from Serbia and co-ordinated movements along the Western Balkan route towards Germany and other Western European countries. The network is said to have charged between 2,000 and 10,000 euros per person to transport migrants, mainly Syrians, from Serbia via Hungary and from Bosnia and Herzegovina via Croatia. Once inside the European Union, the migrants were reportedly transported by car, van, and truck through Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, or Slovakia to their final destinations.
Among those arrested is a 26-year-old Syrian national detained in Saarbrücken, Germany, who is believed to be responsible for organising the smuggling of at least 125 migrants through five operations between October 2024 and the present. In Serbia, authorities also arrested two alleged senior members of separate migrant smuggling networks in Belgrade, based on international arrest warrants issued by Germany.
One of the two suspects, a 31-year-old Syrian national, is alleged to have coordinated at least 17 large-scale smuggling operations involving over 150 migrants along the Central Balkan route between April and November 2022. The second suspect, aged 32, is alleged to have played a key logistical role in a network accused of smuggling at least 625 migrants through Serbia to Western Europe between 2023 and 2024. Five other members of the same network had already been arrested in 2025 during coordinated operations in Germany, the Netherlands, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Europol’s European Centre against Migrant Smuggling (ECAMS) provided operational support for the investigations, facilitating the exchange of information between the authorities involved, the analysis of links between the various proceedings and the identification of priority targets. The European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust), meanwhile, set up a joint investigation team (JIT) between Germany and Serbia to coordinate judicial activities and enable the sharing of information and evidence, right through to the execution of arrest warrants.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
