In a coordinated security operation between Germany, the Netherlands, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, five individuals suspected of involvement in smuggling hundreds of migrants, mostly Syrians, to Western European countries via the so-called "Balkan Route" were arrested.
The NOS website reported that these raids included the Dutch city of Houten, where the Royal Dutch Police arrested a 26-year-old Syrian man based on a European arrest warrant issued by German authorities, pending his extradition to Berlin. In Germany, police raided the cities of Dortmund and Bochum and arrested one suspect, while security forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina arrested three others.
According to a statement issued by Munich police, the raids in the three countries resulted in the seizure of significant evidence, including smartphones, vehicles used in smuggling operations, and small quantities of drugs.
Investigations led by Eurojust revealed that the criminal network had smuggled at least 500 migrants since 2021, using a route from Greece through the Balkans to Western Europe. It is estimated that the organization was charging approximately €4,500 per person, with revenues of at least €1-4 million.
This operation is part of broader European efforts to combat human smuggling networks, whose activities have increased in recent years amid ongoing humanitarian crises and armed conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa.
The "Balkan Route" is one of the most prominent irregular migration routes to Europe, with thousands of migrants taking it annually from Turkey and Greece, passing through Balkan countries such as North Macedonia, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and reaching Western Europe. Despite tightened border controls in recent years, this route remains active, with criminal networks exploiting migrants' need to escape war and poverty.
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