According to the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), Berlin is a "hub" for Vietnamese human traffickers in Western Europe.
An industrial area in the Lichtenberg district is of central importance, said the BKA department head for human trafficking, Carsten Moritz, on the RBB channel.
From the capital, illegally smuggled Vietnamese people are referred to business people throughout Germany and Western Europe.
During operations by the police and financial control, investigators across Germany came across illegally employed people from Vietnam in nail salons, restaurants, the meat and slaughtering industry and the textile and cleaning industry.
These were employed there under "exploitative conditions," said Moritz.
Those affected would be forced to work off the costs of smuggling.
This involves amounts between 10,000 and 20,000 euros.
Accordingly, people are employed primarily in areas "where high profits can be achieved with relatively low, inconspicuous means."
Criminal network turns over "huge sums"
Last year, shop and company reviews found that illegal workers included minors.
According to the BKA, there is "a huge network" behind the smuggling, which is "active throughout Europe" and converts "enormous sums".
In Germany, the criminals responsible for this are now represented throughout the country.
Sometimes people smuggled under life-threatening conditions.
In 2019, 39 Vietnamese died in a refrigerated truck in the UK.
They were supposed to be brought into the country hidden in the hold of the truck and had paid tens of thousands of euros for the smuggling.
On the initiative of the BKA, action will be taken against this form of crime, human trafficking and labor exploitation across Europe in 2021 due to the increasing national and international case numbers.
In the fight, the investigators want to cooperate with the police authorities of Poland, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and the Czech Republic as well as Europol.
Icon: The mirror
fek / AFP
