Five French and one Moroccan have been summoned to appear for smuggling migrants

Via Le Figaro with AFP

Posted On 05/12/2023 at 6:50 PM.Upgrade 05/12/2023 at 7:12 pm

Five French nationals and a Moroccan from Reims were arrested and brought to justice Smuggling of MigrantsAFP learned from the parquet floor of Créteil (Val-de-Marne) on Friday.

The defendants, aged between 21 and 26, will be tried on June 2 after Friday’s dismissal by the Créteil Criminal Court of the immediate appearance trial.

Dissemination by rail transport

They are alleged to have participated between May and October 2022 Illegal immigration network Migrants of Tunisian, Algerian, Afghan and Syrian origin were smuggled from Hungary to Austria in utility vehicles. “Once in Austria, illegal immigrants can disperse more easily across Europe, particularly by using rail transport.“, the prosecutor explained.

Crossing the border between Hungary and Austria was only part of the activities of this network, which was built around 12 members and supported around 250 migrants by managing the stages of their journey through Europe. In Créteil the three persons involved played the role of organisers, two were drivers and a sixth was responsible for transferring the proceeds of the traffic.

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The Office for the Fight Against Trafficking of Migrants (OLTIM) launched an investigation last October under the direction of the Créteil Public Prosecutor’s Office, in cooperation with Austrian and Hungarian judicial authorities. All six suspects were arrested and remanded earlier this week.

All of them are punished for facilitating the illegal entry, movement or stay of a foreigner in the Schengen area. Five of them are also being prosecuted for criminal association, an offense punishable by up to ten years in prison.

Hungarian and Austrian police services had earlier convicted and jailed five other French nationals, including four from Val-de-Marne, of the same network for their part.