German police, in cooperation with the EU's Europol law enforcement agency, raided premises in Germany and Serbia on Wednesday, executing three arrest warrants in connection with human trafficking, authorities said on Wednesday.
Around 240 officers were deployed in an operation in Germany's Saarbrücken on the border with France, police said.
The raids were directed at Syrian family clan, among others, as part of an Operational Task Force coordinated by Europol and led in Germany by law enforcement authorities in Munich.
German prosecutors and federal police accuse smugglers with links to a Libyan militia of transporting at least 125 mostly Syrian migrants by boat from Libya to the Italian Mediterranean island of Lampedusa since October 2024. Investigators estimate the criminal organization earned at least €875,000 (about $1 million) from the operation.
A 26-year-old Syrian man was arrested in Saarbrücken. He had already come to the attention of border police on several occasions during border checks since February 2025.
In Serbia, a 31-year-old Syrian man was arrested under an international warrant. He is suspected of belonging to the Sarawi smuggling clan and has been classified by Europol as a high value target.
At the same time, Serbian police acting on behalf of German prosecutors arrested another 32-year-old Syrian national. He is accused of involvement in 37 migrant smuggling cases between June 2023 and June 2024 involving at least 625 people.
According to investigators, the network charged up to €10,000 per person for transport along the Balkan route to Germany.