A cross-border investigation led by the Romanian Police, supported by Europol and in which the Austrian police (Landeskriminalamt Salzburg) and the Italian Carabinieri Corps (Arma dei Carabinieri) participated, led to the destruction of an organized criminal group involved in migrant trafficking, Europol announces. The group arranged the illegal arrival of migrants in Romania through fraudulently obtained work visas, before facilitating their subsequent illegal movement to other EU countries.
The criminal network consisted mainly of Romanian and Pakistani citizens, who established commercial companies in Romania. The suspects allegedly brought Bangladeshi, Egyptian and Pakistani citizens to Romania with work visas, fraudulently obtained by misleading the competent authorities.
The investigation identified other Romanian companies, managed by Romanian citizens who cooperated with the criminal network, which were also used to fraudulently obtain work permits and visas. The criminal network requested a total of 509 work permits from Romania and obtained permits for 102 migrants. Migrants used these fraudulently obtained visas to enter Romania illegally.
The investigative leads suggest that 76 migrants who arrived in Romania using these fraudulent documents then made secondary moves to other EU countries. During the investigation, 26 migrants were detected in Romania, Italy and Austria. The criminal network charged between €5,000 and €6,000 per person to arrange arrival in Romania and between €2,000 and €5,000 per migrant for secondary travel to another EU country. The criminal network is believed to have made illegal profits of at least €1 million.
Members of the network based in Pakistan were responsible for the local recruitment of migrants who wanted to reach the EU. Other members of the criminal network arranged accommodation for the migrants in various locations in Brașov and Bucharest, before transporting them further to the Timisoara area. From there, other accomplices picked up the migrants and transported them to the Romanian-Hungarian border, where the migrants illegally crossed the green border on foot or hidden in various means of transport. National authorities have detected a number of migrants smuggled by this network while crossing borders or directly into the territory of other EU states, mainly in Italy and Austria. In one of the cases in Italy, Italian authorities detected 45 illegal migrants on foot along the Italian-Slovenian border.
Europol supported the investigation within the operational plan signed with Romania regarding the Ukrainian crisis. Europol facilitated the exchange of information and provided operational coordination and analytical support. On the day of the operation, Europol deployed one analyst to Italy and one to Romania to cross-check operational information with Europol’s databases and provide leads to investigators on the ground.
A Joint Investigation Team (JIT) was established between Italy, Romania and Europol, with the support of Eurojust, in April 2024. Eurojust provided additional cross-border judicial support during the action.
Based in The Hague in the Netherlands, Europol supports the 27 EU Member States in their fight against terrorism, cybercrime and other serious forms of organized crime. Europol also collaborates with many non-EU partner states and international organisations. From its various threat assessments to its intelligence-gathering and operational activities, Europol has the tools and resources it needs to fulfill its role in making Europe safer.
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