Success for the domestic executive in the fight against the international smuggling mafia: Styrian officials were able to investigate and arrest 17 suspects who illegally brought about 500 people to Austria.
The incident last summer caused a stir: the driver of a panel van with a German license plate chased local police on the highway from Ilz to Mooskirchen. Only after 60 kilometers could the man be stopped; The van contained a total of 26 people who had entered the country illegally.
Extensive investigations by Ilz-FGP immigration police now led to further findings and ultimately arrests. The smuggling gang, which consists of a total of 17 suspects, is suspected of having organized a total of 26 smuggling trips from Hungary to Austria between June and October 2023 alone. About 500 people are said to have been brought into the country illegally.
The highlight of the operation was the arrest of five suspects, according to police, members of the gang’s middle and top management levels, in southern Burgenland in early October. Two expensive support vehicles were also seized from the Arab perpetrator group. The investigation into other suspects and those behind the crime continues together with the public prosecutor’s offices in Graz and Vienna. A first main hearing at the Graz Regional Criminal Court is scheduled for early February 2024.
Source: Krone
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