French authorities made 26 arrests and seized the equivalent of 11 million euros, invested by the criminal group in luxury cars, jewelry, cryptocurrency… and meal vouchers.
A kick in the anthill. French border police and the Bobigny interministerial research group have dismantled a major migrant smuggling network, arresting 26 people and seizing the equivalent of 11 million euros, Europol announced on Thursday November 28. Since the start of its activities in 2022, the group has facilitated the entry into French territory of several thousand people, all from the Indian subcontinent (India, Sri Lanka and Nepal).
The smugglers, from multiple small groups involved in various criminal activities, obtained false work, tourist or medical visas to allow migrants to reach the European Union via African countries or Dubai (United Arab Emirates). In return, the criminals demanded between 15,000 euros and 26,000 euros per person, depending on the level of service offered. Those paying the highest fare could benefit from illegally obtained plane tickets, false identity documents and “other resources allowing them to facilitate their trip”specifies the European Criminal Police Agency.
Hundreds of millions of euros in profit
The network was generating a lot of money: several hundred million euros, the authorities estimate. Monster sums that the network managed to launder through shell companies, the repurchase and resale of gold and via “l'hawala”. L’«hawala» is a payment system, encouraged by the Koran, which abandons banks in favor of“operators” individuals, often located in convenience store type businesses, escaping the vigilance of financial authorities. In this way, smugglers circulate money in the shadows. To launder part of the money recovered, the network also obtained… «tickets-restaurant»adds Europol.
The French authorities, supported by those of Luxembourg, Portugal and the United Kingdom in particular, have carried out three waves of arrests in recent months. On March 12, 13 migrant traffickers were arrested as well as 6 “launderers”part of a network of«hawala». He is suspected of having received and transferred 50 million euros per year to the criminal organization. On June 25, two gold dealers, who laundered 5 million euros per year, were arrested. Finally, this November, a Tamil priest was arrested, along with four other individuals, imprisoned for having laundered 200 million euros in public companies.
During the searches, the authorities seized nine houses and four businesses (the equivalent of 3.4 million euros), 23 luxury vehicles (752,000 euros), gold and jewelry (5 million euros). , machines for making jewelry (500,000 euros) 1,700 meal vouchers, 350,000 euros in cash and 400,000 euros in construction materials. 35 bank accounts were also seized, with a total value of 440,000 euros. The investigation was carried out by the branch of the Office for Combating Smuggling of Migrants (Oltim) at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport.
