- Operations against contraband groups in five German regions
Various federal regions are Presently carrying out raids against an assumed human trafficking syndicate. In all, 19 sites in Thuringia, Baden-Württemberg, Schleswig-Holstein, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Saxony-Anhalt are implicated, as per a Federal Police spokesperson. The main emphasis is on Jena in Thuringia. Earlier, MDR had disclosed this.
Warrants for arrest have been served against three Syrian and two Iraqi nationals, the spokesperson continued. In total, investigations are concentrating on 18 suspects, ranging from drivers to those at the managerial level. They are accused of transporting at least 140 individuals across the West Balkan route in 2023 and 2024.
In Jena, individuals were housed in an apartment for the smuggling activities. According to the spokesperson, a method known as "Hawala Banking" was employed for payment. This unofficial payment method involves transferring cash through intermediaries.
Investigators managed to trace the ring after several transporters were halted on the West Balkan route. From these individual instances, the larger operation was unearthed, the Federal Police spokesperson explained. The public prosecutor's office in Gera is overseeing the investigation.
More precisely, police conducted searches in Jena, Sondershausen, Nordhausen, and Bad Sulza in Thuringia, in Lübeck in Schleswig-Holstein, Vaihingen an der Enz in Baden-Württemberg, Krefeld in North Rhine-Westphalia, and Zeitz in Saxony-Anhalt.
The Federal Police announced that "The following shall be added:" to the ongoing investigation, as more evidence of money laundering activities was discovered. This was uncovered during the raids against the human trafficking syndicate, with the use of "Hawala Banking" as a payment method being a key finding.
