On 19 September, Bulgarian authorities, supported by Europol, dismantled a criminal network smuggling migrants from Türkiye via Bulgaria and Serbia towards Western Southern Europe, resulting in eight arrests (one high-value target), 11 location searches, seizures including cash, Hawala accountancy notebooks and documents and one Romanian citizen found during the searches has been identified as a person wanted by Austria.
The investigation, involving Greek and Romanian authorities, was conducted in the framework of a regional Operational Task Force set up to investigate migrant smuggling networks using Bulgaria as a transit country.
The investigation was initiated at the beginning of 2023 when Bulgarian authorities found migrants smuggled by this network. So far, national authorities have detected 15 smuggling incidents. The smuggling network allegedly facilitated the illegal secondary movements of over 700 irregular migrants towards other parts of the EU.
The suspected ringleaders, predominantly Syrian nationals, coordinated the smuggling activities while maintaining contacts with smugglers and hawaladars in Turkey and Greece, as well as in other countries along the smuggling route.
The suspects facilitated the transportation of migrants from the Turkish-Bulgarian border to accommodations in the region of Sofia. After a short stay there, they were further transported to the Bulgarian-Serbian border.
Migrants had to pay significant deposits before being taken across the green border between Türkiye and Bulgaria. They paid between EUR 3,000 and EUR 5,000 in Hawala offices in Istanbul and were then smuggled by guides connected to the Turkish members of the criminal network. Once in Bulgarian territory, the migrants were picked up by Bulgarian, Romanian, and Syrian drivers, who transported them to accommodations in Sofia. The smuggling network uses vehicles such as cars, vans, and even trucks for transportation.
In one case, the suspects transported 150 migrants in a lorry. Criminals use this modus operandi to maximise their profits when the demand for smuggling services is high. In this particular case, drivers transported the migrants while driving at fast speeds to escape police checks. This dangerous modus operandi puts the lives of migrants and bystanders at great risk.
Extensive operational analysis was conducted to identify the targets and map their criminal activities. Europol also brought together the different countries involved to prepare for the final phase of the investigation jointly.
Two Europol experts deployed to Sofia in the framework of the regional Operational Task Force were on the ground during the action day, helping law enforcement authorities with cross-checks in real-time against Europol’s databases.
Police officers from the Hellenic Police, Romanian Border Police and Romanian Police (Service for Combating Organised Crime) were deployed on the spot to support the investigative measures.
