An organised gang which allegedly specialized in smuggling migrants has been smashed by the Romanian Border Police, supported by Europol and involving the Bulgarian General Directorate Combating Organized Crime and the German Police.
Eurasiareview reports that the group was allegedly smuggling migrants from Bulgaria to Romania, across the Danube River and then towards Western Europe.
The investigation established that the network was formed in 2023 and comprised Bangladeshi, Iraqi, and Romanian citizens. Members recruited migrants from the Middle East who wanted to come to Europe, especially Germany.
The network smuggled the migrants in two phases. In the first phase, the suspects picked the migrants up from Bulgaria and transported them in boats across the Danube River. The migrants were then taken in groups of 20-30 via cargo transport to the western part of Romania. The gang also used off-road vehicles but mainly transported groups of 13-17 migrants in 5-seater cars. Some of the migrants had a road accident in July 2023.
When they had entered western Romania, the second phase would take place. The gang would accommodate the migrants for several days. They would then transport them hidden between goods in trucks across the Hungarian border to Western Europe. Germany was their favourite country
The migrants paid between EUR 3500 and 5000 per person to be smuggled from Danube River to their final destination.
