Europol strikes migrant smuggling network

Europol announced on Thursday that it arrested three suspected members of Syrian smuggling networks after an operation involving Germany and Serbia.

The arrests come as Europe grapples with the fallout from last week's crisis, when more than 70,000 migrants rushed into the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco.

"Investigators targeted senior members of two interconnected Syrian criminal networks believed to have organized the smuggling of more than 900 migrants into the European Union," the statement said.

Those arrested included a 26-year-old Syrian in Germany and a 31-year-old Syrian in Belgrade, along with another suspect in the Serbian capital.

The networks are accused of transporting migrants to Europe since 2022 via Mediterranean crossings from Libya and along the Balkan route.