German police make arrests in human trafficker raids

Police have searched homes in several German states, making arrests of people suspected of being part of a people smuggling network.

Federal police officers arrested three people in the central German state of Thuringia on Wednesday in raids carried out because of suspected human trafficking activities.

Police said in a statement that the group had smuggled dozens of people in unsafe conditions for days at a time.

The arrests — of a Serbian, Syrian, and a Turkish national — were made in the cities of Altenburg and Erfurt.

What is known about the traffickers?

The trafficking network allegedly smuggled at least 85 people, including children, in at least six cases.

The people were allegedly smuggled in the backs of trucks and vans over periods that could last several days. Conditions were described by police as, at times, life-threatening.

The people smuggled would have paid between €3,500 to €8,000 ($4,170 to $9,500) for their hazardous journeys, according to authorities.

The investigations were sparked when authorities picked up several people who had been smuggled into the country in the Saxony town of Bernstadt.

Arrests over forced prostitution in Berlin

In separate raids, police in Berlin, Hamburg and the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein searched a total of eight properties in connection with people smuggling and forced prostitution.

A 43-year-old woman was taken into custody in the Berlin district of Lichtenberg. Some 160 officers were reported to have been involved in the operation.

The suspects are said to have forced a group of women from Vietnam, who arrived in Germany illegally, into prostitution.

There were three arrests in Thuringia, with searched also taking place in two other German states