Spanish police, in collaboration with German police services and the European police cooperation agency Europol, have dismantled a local human trafficking organisation, Europol said on Sunday.
The group was facilitating the secondary movement of people in an illegal situation on the Spanish coasts of Almeria and Murcia into the interior of the country.
The investigation, which began in June last year, led to the arrest of 19 suspects including 16 Syrians and three Moroccans. Searches at seven locations led to the seizure of five vehicles, nearly €10,000 in cash and computer equipment.
According to Europol, the criminal organisation housed migrants in unsanitary conditions until they continued their perilous journey to their final destination, including Germany and Norway.
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The criminal group is part of a wider network of organised human trafficking, the European agency said. According to investigators, the migrants paid more than €20,000 euros to leave Syria and reach Europe, following a route through Lebanon, Egypt and Algeria, before embarking on a dangerous crossing of the Mediterranean Sea.
The organisation is suspected of having organised 68 illegal transfers, enabling 550 Syrian men and women to enter the European Union illegally, Europol stated.
