ALGIERS (ALGERIA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The police in Algeria has dismanteled an international group of smugglers who were trafficking illegal immigrants to Europe from Syria and Lebanon, via the city of Benghazi in eastern Libya. 15 people were arrested – nine Syrians and six Algerians following five months of investigation with the participation of anti-organized crime teams.
The cross-border criminal network was condsidered by the investigators as “specialised in smuggling immigrants”. During the operation, the police seized more than $11,000 along with almost 9,000 euros.
The immigrants were being transported from Syria and Lebanon to Benghazi airport, and then they travel to the northwestern Libyan city of Ghadames, after which they are sent through the border of Debdab in Algeria, as they take the desert route towards the city port of Oran in Algeria to prepare for illegal sea crossings to Europe. Such crossing attempts which migrants have to pay exorbitant amount of money in foreign currency to reach Europe, claim the lives of thousands of migrants each year.
– photo Freepik –
(ITALPRESS).
