Federal Police Conduct Raids in Nine German States in Connection with Human Smuggling
German federal police conducted a series of searches in nine states on Wednesday, in a crackdown on human smuggling. The operation, which involved the execution of three arrest warrants and the implementation of over 40 search warrants issued by the Flensburg public prosecutor’s office, targeted objects in Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, Berlin, Hamburg, Bavaria, Hesse, Baden-Württemberg, Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia, according to the authorities.
The investigation is centered on a suspected organized crime ring, allegedly led by a group from Schleswig-Holstein, which is believed to have smuggled Chinese nationals into Germany for a fee. The Rostock Police Inspectorate for Combating Crime is leading the investigation and further details are expected to be released once the operation has been completed.