2015 saw an unprecedented increase in the number of irregular migrants and refugees attempting to enter Europe. This led to an unseen scale of criminal activities recorded by Europol. The large and well-established international criminal syndicates have engaged in migrant smuggling. Being already specialised and well-organised, they have resorted to the most modern means, including the use of social media to recruit migrants. Many other criminal networks are new to migrant smuggling – they go where the opportunity is high and risk low. It is assessed that one-third of these groups has been involved in other criminal activity: drugs, money laundering and trafficking in human beings, targeting for example unaccompanied minors among the irregular migrants who are especially vulnerable to further exploitation.
It is assessed that more than one million migrants entered the European Union illegally in 2015. Debriefings with the migrants at their points of entry suggest that 90% were brought into Europe by facilitators.
In view of this unprecedented crisis, and responding to the needs expressed by the European Union Member States, Europol restructured and reinforced its capabilities, specifically strengthening the role of its dedicated analysis project (focal point) and the joint operational team (JOT) Mare dealing with the facilitation of illegal migration. The goal has been to improve the sharing and exchange of information aimed at targeting and disrupting people smuggling networks. Europol has also put a lot of resources to aid ongoing operational activities, including the deployment of its officers and databases in the so-called hot spots.
Joint operational team Mare is a unique team combining Europol expertise with EU Member States’ experts on migrant smuggling, with a particular focus on organised crime groups involved in smuggling migrants by vessels in the Mediterranean. “The cooperation between Europol analysts and the national experts seconded by Member States has been crucial for the success of the project,” says Enrique Morales, one of the Europol analysts working for JOT Mare since its inception. “2015, when JOT Mare was launched, saw a steep increase in data being exchanged between Member States and provided to Europol. The whole team worked under extreme pressure to assist national authorities in the affected Member States in the best way possible”. With a pro-active approach, JOT Mare has not only supported the EU Member States from its headquarters in The Hague, but has also deployed officers to the EU Regional Task Force in Piraeus, Greece and Catania, Italy. The support provided by JOT Mare will continue under the new European Migrant Smuggling Centre.
“Being present on the spot has brought an increased awareness to the national actors of the global and truly cross border phenomenon of organised criminality dealing with facilitating illegal immigration, and the need to pursue a holistic approach when tackling this type of criminality,” says Lara. “The new role of Europol within the EU RTFs and the hotspots is clearly beneficial, not only to the countries of arrival which host the hot spots, but also to countries of transit and destination, with an overall benefit to the security of the European Union and the joint effort to fight organised crime.”
Tackling migrant smuggling is a top priority for the European Union. The European Agenda on Migration tasked Europol with immediately strengthening its capabilities to result in a single entry point for inter-agency cooperation on migrant smuggling. The Justice and Home Affairs Council invited Europol to accelerate the establishment of the European Migrant Smuggling Centre (EMSC) to support Member States in better preventing and fighting migrant smuggling.
The EMSC will encompass the JOT Mare and will serve as an EU centre of expertise on migrant smuggling. The goal will be to support Member States in targeting and dismantling organised crime networks involved in migrant smuggling.
October 2015, an international law enforcement operation against migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings, coordinated by Europol.
Participating states: 365 police officers from Spain and Poland.
Results:
Investigators became aware of one of several routes and modus operandi used by the criminal network, and an incident (on 15 August) of a migrant dying while confined in inhumane conditions in a ship’s hold. The identified ship and surviving migrants were consequently rescued by the Italian Navy. However, more than 40 people had died in the same hold when intoxicated by engine fumes. These victims had paid half the fee of those travelling on deck but were packed and transported in inhumane conditions.
The migrants paid around EUR 14 000 each to the criminal network for transport to Europe. In return, the facilitators offered them places in often unseaworthy boats, travelling across the Mediterranean. The criminal syndicate offered ‘packages’ to the migrants, which involved using forged documents to apply for residence permits, to register at the relevant city hall and to claim social security benefits. Residence permit applications were often linked to fake job offers, to work for kebab restaurants in Spain. Some of the profits earned by the criminal organisation were invested in opening new restaurants in different Spanish provinces, which were also used for the further labour exploitation of migrants. The remaining illegal profits were sent back to Pakistan through money wires, impersonating the identities of the exploited migrants without their consent.
Europol’s joint operational team (JOT) handled intelligence and provided criminal analysis and operational support during the common action days. Three Europol experts were deployed on the spot with the mobile office (two in Spain, one in Poland). Europol’s analytical support resulted in the identification of links between this criminal group and previously investigated organised criminal groups involved in the same criminal acts in Spain, using a similar modus operandi. Links made with other ongoing EU cases will be further explored. December 2015, a large-scale joint operation carried out by law enforcement and judicial authorities from Austria, Greece, Sweden and the United Kingdom, supported by Europol.
Target: an organised crime group suspected of smuggling people into the European Union. The identified smugglers were mainly from Syria and Greece, but also Palestine and possibly Tunisia. The organised crime group is believed to have smuggled irregular migrants from Turkey (mainly individuals originating from Syria), then facilitating their journeys from Greece to other EU Member States via the Balkan route (former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, Hungary, Austria, Germany and further northwards).
There were 23 suspects arrested in Austria, Greece, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
The members of the criminal network had set up their headquarters in Greece, where migrants – either located in Turkey or on their way to Greece – would contact them for further assistance with their journeys to Northern Europe. All forms of assistance could be provided ranging from transport and supplying forged travel documents, to housing. The migrants paid the facilitators via money-transfer services or simply with cash. This organised crime group is believed to have smuggled around 100 migrants per day and active since 2013. According to intelligence gathered so far, the total estimated earnings of the group were nearly EUR 10 million. During the action day, the organised crime group’s leader was arrested by officers from the UK’s National Crime Agency in Liverpool. Europol supported the investigation from its early stages, by facilitating the exchange of intelligence between the involved Member States, performing cross-checks and real-time analysis of data, providing tailored analytical support to the investigators, and by financing and hosting operational meetings. Europol specialists and senior officers from participating law enforcement authorities coordinated actions from Europol headquarters in The Hague.
May 2015, a joint investigation by Romania and France focused on the criminal activities of an organised crime group active in Bordeaux.
The victims were recruited in Romania’s Constanta region, using the ‘lover boy’ method3. They were trafficked for sexual exploitation to France, but also Germany, Italy and Spain. The group had well defined roles for its members, including those specialising in advertising the girls on French websites. The victims were forced into prostitution in different towns, and moved every few days to other locations. Based out of low cost hotels, the victims would be taken to clients’ addresses by members of the group. Estimated profits of the criminal network: EUR 8 million, with EUR 5 million confiscated.
Europol supported the investigation on the action day in May by deploying an analyst with a mobile office in Romania to carry out cross checks and operational analysis on the spot. In earlier stages of the operation Europol cross-checked all requested criminal information against its databases, produced two cross-match reports and two operational analysis reports. To aid the operation’s coordination, an operational meeting was organised at Europol headquarters.
