Europol Busts People Smuggling Group Linked to Bulgaria

Eight people have been arrested in a crackdown on a Europe-wide organised crime group suspected of arranging for mainly Albanian nationals to be brought into the EU in breach of immigration law, Europol announced on Tuesday.    

The group, comprised mainly of Czech and Albanian nationals, has been operating since late 2013, Europol said in a press release.

The group smuggled "irregular migrants to the UK via two routes: either from Turkey or Greece to Belgium and then on to the UK in vehicles driven by Czech and Slovak drivers, or from Bulgaria or Serbia to the Czech Republic, and then via Germany to the UK by ferry or train," Europol said.

The action against the group was taken on Tuesday by judicial and law enforcement authorities from Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany and the UK with support from Europol and Eurojust.

Europol disclosed neither the nationality of those arrested, nor where the arrests had been made.