German Police Smash Chinese Smuggling Ring
Border police officers said Thursday that they have smashed the local branch of a Chinese ring known as “Snake’s Head,” which specializes in smuggling Chinese migrants into other countries for large sums.
Police arrested 33 people in the Berlin area Wednesday, including the suspected ringleader, in an operation coordinated with police in Austria, Spain, France and Scandinavia.
China has itself announced a clampdown on the smugglers, known there as “snake heads.” A series of mass sentencing rallies has been organized by a special office dealing with illegal migration in Fuzhou, capital of Fujian province, where many of the migrants come from.
German police said their inquiry, which lasted 1 1/2 years, uncovered a ring operating through fake travel agencies in Bangkok to take migrants to the United States, Western and Eastern Europe.
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