On Thursday, German police conducted a major operation against the group, which illegally sent Syrian citizens to Germany and the Netherlands for payment, police said.
“Today, a major operation took place as a part of this investigation. Almost 400 police officers, as well as six investigators from the Trier prosecutor’s office, visited a total of 28 objects in Palatinate, North Rhine-Westphalia and Berlin, and detained two people. The operation was triggered by a large-scale investigation. It was directed mainly against members of the Lebanese family and two more people who are suspected of having created a group with a large logistic reach with the aim of smuggling foreign citizens into Germany and the Netherlands”, – a police spokesman said at the press conference in Trier.
According to him, it was about the smuggling of Syrian citizens. For this, Bayreuth Airport in Bavaria was used, then migrants flew to Frankfurt, Munich and Amsterdam. In Bayreuth, fake visas were used to cross the border. In total, the police have information about 26 cases of smuggling of Syrians, ten of them failed due to the actions of the police.
Two people were detained – the head of the group and “one of the members of the Lebanese family”. Suspects face up to ten years in prison for his alleged acts.
The investigation has been conducted since the end of 2018.