Police in Germany arrested four suspected human traffickers Wednesday in a series of operations and searches in fourteen apartments and buildings in four cities across the country, including the capital, Berlin, authorities confirmed.
The operations have been carried out in Berlin, Forst, near the capital, Cottbus (east) and Siegen (northwest), after which a police spokesman has specified that the case is related to the illegal entry of foreigners to Germany for purposes linked to human trafficking and associated with gangs, as reported by the German news agency DPA.
In total, arrest warrants were issued for six people, of whom four between the ages of 25 and 45 were arrested. The operation involved 375 agents, according to the police. Thus, the aforementioned spokesman has indicated that the operations have been preceded by investigations that lasted for months and covered 60 cases and 300 individuals who would have entered the country irregularly.
Most of the people arrived in Germany from Syria and Iraq via Belarus. According to the police report, the members of the trafficking network collected between 3,500 euros and 10,000 euros per person. Police first became suspicious at the borders with the Czech Republic and Poland. According to the report, the six suspects are Iraqi and Syrian nationals.
