Interpol announced on Tuesday (July 27) that in a four-day operation coordinated by Interpol, the criminal group behind human trafficking and immigrant smuggling has been hit hard, and 286 suspects have been arrested worldwide.
According to reports, law enforcement officials from 47 countries participated in Operation Free Land (July 5-9) and conducted approximately 500,000 inspections at checkpoints and airports, as well as hot spots identified through intelligence and investigations.
According to a press release, the authorities rescued approximately 430 victims of human trafficking and identified 4,000 irregular immigrants from 74 different countries. According to reports, many of them need medical, psychological and housing assistance and are cared for by protection services.
In addition, 60 new cross-border surveys were conducted. For example, on the first day of the operation, the Tanzanian authorities arrested a Ugandan bus driver who was carrying a box of 169 forged passports from Kampala to Es Salaam.
INTERPOL Secretary-General Jürgen Stock said: “Operation Liberterra is a five-day snapshot of the global trafficking and smuggling situation, and how transnational, highly organized criminal networks can only focus on one thing: profit .”
“The destruction of 22 criminal groups also shows what can be achieved by coordinated global law enforcement operations.”
Operation Free Land is a five-day snapshot of the world #human trafficking And smuggling, and how transnational, highly organized criminal networks focus on one thing-profit. https://t.co/DLrMHOPX46
— Jurgen Stock (@INTERPOL_SG) July 26, 2021
Among the focus of operations involving the European Union and Western Balkan countries, six members of organized crime groups were reported to have been arrested in North Macedonia. The leader has been working with his partners in the Middle East to smuggle migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Syria to Greece.An organized crime group headquartered in Spain According to reports, the company smuggled migrants from Algeria to the Spanish coast by sea and was dismantled.
When smugglers tried to evade road inspections, Croatia reported a fatal traffic accident. Slovenian immigrants are forced to travel in dog houses. In Greece, it is reported that immigrants pay as much as 2,000 euros per person during a four-hour drive across the country. The Tunisian Coast Guard rescued 69 immigrants from 11 different African countries after receiving the distress signal from the ship.
According to reports, this joint operation was supported by a number of partners-the International Organization for Migration, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and Europol.
