Europol has launched a new European Centre Against Migrant Smuggling (ECAMS) to strengthen co-ordination and investigations against criminal networks involved in migrant smuggling.
Migrant smuggling networks are active across continents and are increasingly operating online, where they advertise services, recruit associates and communicate using encrypted channels, Europol declared in its announcement on Tuesday.
The new centre will focus on intelligence-led, data-driven investigations, including open-source intelligence (OSINT) — the use of publicly available online information for investigative purposes — and financial inquiries that “follow the money trail.”
Europol said its support for EU member states has expanded over the past decade, and that operations it supported have led to thousands of arrests of suspected smugglers and the dismantling of hundreds of networks since the European Migrant Smuggling Centre was launched in 2016.
Last year, Europol experts supported almost 200 operations and co-ordinated 56 “action days” targeting migrant smuggling networks across Europe.
In 2025, Europol processed more than 12,000 intelligence contributions and produced more than 1,000 operational analytical reports, which it said helped investigators identify “High Value Targets” and connect cases across borders.
Online investigations and financial trails
A Europol-co-ordinated network of digital investigators known as DigiNeX monitors and analyses suspected online smuggling activity and works to disrupt it, the agency said.
More than 30 experts took part in “digital action days” on 18 and 19 March under a Joint Investigation Team targeting migrant smuggling networks active in the Mediterranean Sea, with support from DigiNeX officers.
The work focused on 10 High Value Targets and produced more than 1,000 new investigative leads.
Smuggling networks can charge as much as €20,000 per person to move migrants across continents, with routes including journeys from Iran to Germany, the Netherlands or the United Kingdom costing up to €15,000, information shared with Europol suggests.
Smuggling groups also took €13,000 to bring migrants to Germany via the Western Balkan route.
Migrant smuggling networks rely on “multi-layered” financial systems — including underground banking — to move and conceal profits, Europol Executive Director Catherine De Bolle said.
A “Global Alliance Declaration to Counter Migrant Smuggling” was adopted in December and joined by more than 60 international partners, EU Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner said.
