As of: February 21, 2024, 10:28 a.m
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Investigators are taking action against a gang of smugglers in a large-scale nationwide operation.
In North Rhine-Westphalia alone, around 700 emergency services are involved in the raids.
Berlin/The Hague/Siegburg - Federal police forces searched objects in four federal states in a major raid against members of a smuggling gang.
As a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of the Interior announced upon request, the operation on Wednesday morning in North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse, Bavaria and Schleswig-Holstein involved the execution of several European arrest warrants.
The police authorities in France and Belgium were also involved, it was said.
The suspects are said to have been involved in smuggling across the English Channel.
The focus is North Rhine-Westphalia.
A spokesman for the federal police in North Rhine-Westphalia confirmed the large-scale operation coordinated by Europol to the German Press Agency.
This serves to combat smuggling crime and the unauthorized entry of migrants into Great Britain by boat across the English Channel.
The federal police did not want to comment on the number of people arrested because the operation was still ongoing.
Around 700 emergency services were involved in the raid and searches in more than 20 locations in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Europol will take a final assessment on Thursday, said the spokesman.
The European Union police authority confirmed that it was an operation in several European countries.
Details of the operation would only be announced in the afternoon, said a spokeswoman in The Hague.
It is not the first time that the police in Germany have become active in connection with smuggling to Great Britain.
According to Europol, investigators in five countries busted one of Europe's largest smuggling gangs in a large-scale cross-border operation in 2022.
The gang, which was the focus of the investigation at the time, is said to have smuggled thousands of people in rubber dinghies across the English Channel to Great Britain.
At that time, large amounts of cash and firearms were discovered during searches in Germany, along with numerous inflatable boats and motors.
dpa