Upper Austrian authorities arrested a six-member Syrian smuggling gang suspected of illegally smuggling more than 300 people into Austria and onward to Germany.
According to Austrian media, officers from the Upper Austrian State Crime Police Office dismantled the gang after seven months of investigations.
The case began on August 10, 2024, when police arrested a Syrian man attempting to smuggle seven people illegally residing in Austria to Germany.
Gang leader and members arrested
Following investigations, the organizer of the six-member gang was arrested on December 30, 2024.
On March 13 and 14, 2025, three other smugglers working under his leadership were arrested, and another member of the gang was also arrested in Germany.
The defendants, aged between 23 and 34, are suspected of carrying out approximately 40 smuggling operations between July and December 2024, resulting in the transfer of 300 people to Austria or from Austria to Germany.
All of the defendants arrested in Austria confessed to their crimes after being confronted with strong evidence.
One of the smugglers, arrested in August 2024, spent months in prison before being deported to Germany. Four others remain in pretrial detention at Ried im Inkreis prison in Austria, and one is in a correctional facility in Germany.
Human Trafficking in Austria
Human trafficking is considered one of the most serious crimes that violate human rights and human dignity, according to the Federal Centre for European and International Affairs (BMEIA). Austria is a major transit and destination country for these crimes due to its central European location.
In 2023, approximately 2,990 illegal immigrants were apprehended from Turkey, making it the primary source of irregular migration to Austria, followed by Syria with 2,830 migrants, and Serbia with 1,520 migrants.
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