Germany, Polish police swoop on people-smuggling ring

BERLIN - German and Polish police carried out raids on both sides of the border on Wednesday against an alleged Polish-Syrian peoplesmuggling ring as part of a broader crackdown.

German federal police said in a statement that they were acting on orders from the Berlin prosecutor's office, which has opened a probe "against members of a Polish-Syrian family association on suspicion of running organised commercial smuggling of foreigners."

It said two people were detained on existing arrest warrants during the raids carried out by about 170 officers against sites in Germany and Poland.

The suspects are believed to be primarily Polish citizens of Syrian origin. "The suspects are accused of smuggling in Syrian citizens from the Gulf states via Poland into Germany" using Polish tourist visas obtained under false pretences, German police said.

The Syrians, who were charged around €8 000 per person, arrived in Poland by air and were taken over land to Germany where they filed asylum applications.

Police believe the smuggling ring took in a total of more than €300 000. Wednesday's raids were focused on Berlin, where the arrests were made, but also targeted six other German states as well as sites in Poland.

German police said the raids were part of wider concerted action organised illegal migration.

"People-smugglers profit handsomely from asylum seekers," they said.