After a long break

Three smugglers arrested within 10 minutes

In ten minutes, the handcuffs clicked for two Ukrainians and one Albanian.(Bild: Schulter Christian)

The influx of migrants had dried up, smuggling gangs had given Burgenland a wide berth for weeks. But now things have once again taken a turn for the worse at the border. Three smugglers were arrested within a few minutes. 

For a long time, things have been quiet at the state border with Hungary as far as illegal migration is concerned. Although the shortest refugee route to Germany, France or Great Britain passes through Burgenland, many smuggling gangs have been taking a huge detour since the fall of 2023. Their illegal routes now go right through other countries.

Three smugglers at the border
The strict crackdown by law enforcement agencies in countries such as Serbia, increased border controls and targeted measures such as Operation Fox have clearly left their mark. In the short term, however, the situation last weekend was as tense as it was at the peak of immigration. In a presumably coordinated operation, three smugglers broke through the border in the Kittsee area almost simultaneously at around 7pm on Saturday.

Police were able to stop smugglers' cars like this one on the A6 near Kittsee and on the main road.(Bild: Schulter Christian)

End of the line for offenders
A perpetrator from Ukraine was traveling with five refugees in the car. A compatriot was at the wheel of a car with four migrants as passengers. Both accomplices of a smuggling gang were stopped by the police on the A6. Another smuggler from Albania had chauffeured four refugees to Austria. The end of the line for him was very close by on the country road.

It happened in quick succession. All of the arrests took place within just ten minutes.

Ein Insider

13 migrants looked after
After the perpetrators were arrested, a total of 13 refugees had to be looked after and registered. "They come from Syria, Turkey and Iran. Some of them are Kurds," it was reported. The traffickers were taken to prison after being questioned.

The police last reported a major seizure in the first week of July. During these seven days, one smuggler and eleven refugees were stopped. At that time, the provisional balance of border operations for 2024 in Burgenland was: five smuggler arrests and 315 apprehensions of refugees.