Orders from French and Belgian judicial authorities led to 19 arrests and raids in 28 locations following an 18-month joint investigation under Operational Task Force (OTF) Wave, co-ordinated by Eurojust, Europol reported.
The massive operation led to the dismantling of one of the most active networks smuggling migrants across the Channel in small boats. Investigations launched at the end of 2022 revealed the structure and modus operandi of this large criminal network made up of Iraqi and Syrian nationals of Kurdish origin.
The suspects, all based in Germany, organised the purchase, storage and transport of inflatable boats for use in smuggling migrants from beaches near the French city of Calais towards the UK.
Active members of the criminal network transported up to 8 boats at a time. During the transport from Germany to France, a forerunner car guarded the vehicle stuffed with boats to avoid detection by the police. The drivers stayed in holiday areas in Belgium before bringing the equipment to the departure point. It is reported that the perpetrators could provide up to 8 departures per night, depending on weather conditions.
Although poor quality boats, mostly of Chinese origin, are neither suitable nor safe for transporting more than 10 people, smugglers placed an average of about 50 migrants in one of such vessels.
In total, investigators have gathered evidence linking at least 55 departures facilitated solely by this smuggling network. The smugglers reportedly collected between €1,000 and €3,000 per seat on the dangerous boat for each migrant.
OTF Wave targets the smuggling of migrants across the Channel. It targets the entire chain of smuggling activity, from migrant recruitment to logistical cells and the main organisers. Europol’s specialised experts, who were fully involved in OTF’s work, helped to identify criminal links between several national investigations.
The work of OTF Wave members from national authorities was also supported by a special investigation team (URO/CIC) set up by France and the UK to tackle migrant smuggling on small boats.
Europol established a special financial instrument to facilitate such high-profile investigations. Under OTF Wave, Europol provided over €120,000 to the participating countries to manage various aspects of their investigative work. Europol ensured the overall coordination of investigative activities and organised more than 10 operational meetings between task force members.
During the day of action, Europol facilitated the dispatch of 10 investigators from Belgium and 33 investigators from France to several locations in Germany. In addition to these coordination activities, Europol deployed two experts to the coordination centre in Cologne to assist the German authorities in cross-checking real-time operational information with Europol databases.
Eurojust made cross-border judicial co-operation possible by organising three co-ordination meetings to collect and exchange existing information. With the support of Eurojust’s national offices, judicial authorities exchanged European investigation orders and European arrest warrants, and carefully ensured that all legal instruments were available for action.
