Greek, German police bust migrant smuggling network

A network of human traffickers who smuggled undocumented migrants from Greece into Germany using the so-called “lookalike” method has been broken up by police officials from the two countries in an operation overseen by the EU’s law enforcement agency, Europol.

The suspected head of the organization was arrested in an operation in Athens on February 1. During a house search, police seized a large number of ID documents, a laptop computer and four mobile phones.

Authorities say the network, mostly made up of Syrian nationals, used lookalike identity documents to smuggle migrants to Germany on flights from Athens and Thessaloniki. It is believed to have smuggled a total of 12 migrants, including seven minors, over 10 trips since 2020, charging 4,500-6,000 euros per person.

Police are looking for six more suspects, two of them based in Germany.