In a major international operation, police in Germany and France conducted dawn raids on Wednesday to dismantle a criminal network accused of smuggling migrants to the UK via small boats.
The raids, coordinated by Europol, involved French security forces and British police after months of intelligence-sharing.
German federal police reported that the operation targeted cities in western Germany, where smuggling gangs allegedly sourced inflatable boats and recruited migrants for perilous journeys across the English Channel.
The network, reportedly run by Iraqi Kurds—some living in asylum seeker shelters in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW)—is accused of trafficking migrants from the Middle East and East Africa to France and the UK.
“This group facilitated the illegal smuggling of migrants using small boats,” said German federal police in a statement.
More than 500 officers were deployed in locations ranging from asylum shelters to private homes and warehouses across NRW, including Essen, Bochum, and Gelsenkirchen, as well as sites in Baden-Württemberg and France. Arrest warrants, issued by a court in Lille, France, were executed as part of the operation.
A key focus of the raid was an asylum shelter in Essen, where armed police conducted a pre-dawn search. According to reports from Bild, officers from Germany’s elite GSG 9 anti-terror unit led the operation, supported by over 20 French and British investigators and Europol officials.
This is not the first crackdown on smuggling networks in Germany. In February, 19 individuals were arrested following an investigation into another Iraqi-Kurdish group. Investigators believe such networks, often linked to highly profitable people-smuggling operations, are proliferating.
“People smuggling can be more lucrative than drug trafficking,” one investigator told German media. “Smugglers charge migrants up to €10,000 each, and a single boatload can yield hundreds of thousands of euros. Tragically, the lives of the migrants mean nothing to these criminals.”
Recent figures highlight the growing scale of the crisis. Europol estimates that 30,000 migrants crossed the UK in 600 boats last year, a 60% rise compared to 2022.
German authorities have opened investigations into 4,400 human smuggling suspects, as the country faces mounting political pressure to tackle illegal migration ahead of snap elections in February.
The resurgence of conflict in Syria has heightened concerns that smuggling networks will exploit the displacement of Syrians, further increasing migration flows.
Germany’s pivotal role in smuggling routes has drawn international attention. A recent BBC investigation revealed how the country serves as a hub for networks organising small boat crossings from French shores.
With migration set to remain a divisive issue, authorities across Europe are under pressure to disrupt the networks profiting from human misery.
