Frontex arrests 144 people smugglers operating in Central Eastern Europe

The European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) has announced that together with the Austrian authorities, an international operation against organised cross-border crime in Central and South-Eastern Europe was carried out on September 13.

According to a press release issued on September 29 by Frontex, the operation, which is known as EMPACT Joint Action Day (JAD) Danube, was mainly focused on combating activities related to migrants’ smuggling, human trafficking, and document fraud.

In order to be able to carry such an operation successfully, allow easy exchange of information, and lead the investigation into people trafficking and smuggling, a coordination centre was set up in Vienna.

Through the operation that was led by Frontex along with police officers, border guards, and customs from the participating countries, 144 suspected people smugglers were arrested in just over a week, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

In addition, the same press release revealed that apart from arresting more than a hundred people smugglers, another 6,656 irregular migrants were detected.

Moreover, during this operation that aimed to fight illegal activities, the authorities were able to detect 76 counterfeit documents as well as 13 cars, which are suspected of having been used to carry out unlawful actions.

“Trafficking in human beings is one of the most profitable forms of organised crime, generating billions of euros for criminal networks. Frontex plays an active role in combating this crime through such activities as Joint Action Days but also through training border guards across Europe. The agency runs a number of operations at international airports, too, aimed at detecting and safeguarding victims of trafficking, especially children,” Frontex noted.

This operation was part of the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats, a four-year plan for combating serious and organised crime.

Participants in this operation were the authorities of Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Romania, Greece, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Albania. The operation was also supported by Europol and Interpol.

Previously, Frontex revealed that more than 103,639 people had entered European countries illegally since the beginning of 2021. Such a high number of persons who reached Europe using illegal ways this year marked an increase of 64 per cent compared to the first half of 2020.

Additionally, the same noted that illegal border crossing numbers have doubled during August, with 17,788 registered border crossings. However, the illegal crossing numbers had dropped by 67 per cent in the Eastern borders compared to July, when 3,242 cases were identified.

SOURCE: Schengen Visa Info

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