Strike at the border

Brutal smuggling gang earned 4 million euros

These refugees were freed from a smuggler's truck.

(Bild: Deutsche Bundespolizei)

"Kobane" and "Vienna" - these were the code names of the investigations by Upper Austrian and Bavarian police officers who busted a large Syrian smuggling gang. 30 perpetrators, more than 2000 illegal migrants, four million euros in profits are the key points. The human traffickers were brutal - even against their own people.

In the "Joint Centre" of the Austrian and German police in Passau, representatives of the Austrian Federal Criminal Police Office, the Urfahr-Umgebung District Police Command and the Munich Federal Police presented the great success of a trafficking organization that earned more than four million euros from illegal migration, i.e. smuggling.

Stops at the border were the beginning
The starting point was the apprehension of an Iraqi driver with 17 illegal passengers - twelve children and five adults, "smuggled into a mid-range car" - in the Mühlviertel region on the border with Bavaria on October 16, 2023. The following day, six people in a BMW 3 Series, including a baby on the mother's lap, were apprehended on the Bavarian side. In the BMW were four towed Turks and two smugglers - Syrians.

The Upper Austrian and Bavarian police officers worked together and discovered that the Syrians were behind both smuggling operations. "Thanks to the joint investigation, the Syrians were able to prove 19 smuggling operations involving more than 100 smuggled persons," said Thomas Eberl from the German Federal Police. Between 800 and 1500 euros were paid per person."

Competition eliminated
"This Syrian group operated from the Serbian-Hungarian border and was in competition with other groups. In the summer of 2023, this Syrian group succeeded in gaining supremacy through violent actions," describes Erwin Pilgerstorfer, district police commander of Urfahr-Umgebung. The gang is said to have smuggled more than 2000 people through Austria to Germany, generating more than four million euros in the process. 

Thousands of chats analyzed
"The brutality of the gang is also directed against its own members who cooperate with the authorities," says Pilgerstorfer. The drivers were supplied with crystal meth so that they could hold out longer and flee at high risk if they came into contact with the police. Around 30 gang members were identified, five were caught and two have already been sentenced in Austria. "Thousands of chats and messages from 30 cell phones were analyzed. The group also specifically advertised their activities on social media," the police said, showing a promotional video by the "Kurdo" group, which showed migrants expressing their satisfaction with the activities of the traffickers.

Only "cash is king"
The investigators were also able to trace the flow of money. Only cash is sent via so-called hawala bankers. "Everything is based on trust and confidentiality", the investigators know - and if someone violates the trust or confidentiality, there are brutal consequences. One such banker was arrested in Turkey, who had stashed away 20 million euros in bin bags. A total of seven such illegal bankers were arrested as a result of the dismantling of this gang.