23 suspects arrested across Europe in raids targeting migrant smuggling gang

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Omar Saman of Iraq holds his son Awyn as he and his family wait to cross the border from Slovenia to Austria.

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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More than 3,000 immigrants arrive at the border of Austria and Germany on Thursday, Oct. 29, as talks on the war in Syria were being held in Vienna.

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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Sardar Mohammed, 16, of Afghanistan, waits at the border of Austria and Germany.

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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Thousands of men, women and children have been camping for several days on the Slovenian border as they wait to cross into Austria. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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Branches from surrounding trees are used for fires to keep people warm. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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An Iranian family stays warm by a fire as they wait to cross the Slovenia-Austria border.

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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Austrian border guards shine a light on a crowd of immigrants.

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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More than 3,000 immigrants arrived at the border of Austria and Slovenia on Thursday, Oct. 29, where they boarded buses for a six-hour ride to the border of Germany.

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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Thousands of immigrants push to get across the border into Austria from Slovenia, where they were held up for days.

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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Narges Heydari, 15, of Afghanistan, catches her brother as he is lifted over the fence at the Austrian border.

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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A young Syrian girl tries to get help for her mother after she was separated from her in the immigration line.

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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An Austrian border guard tries to get people to back up and stop pushing as thousands of immigrants try to cross the border into Austria from Slovenia.

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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A young Syrian boy is pushed against a fence at the Austrian border. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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A Syrian man holds his son’s hand through the fence as the father waits to get through to the Austrian side of the border. Small children were separated from their parents as they waited in the crush of immigrants.

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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Jamileh Heydari breastfeeds her son Matin as she and her family of five try to enter Austria after traveling from Afghanistan.

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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Thousands of people wait to cross the border into Austria from Slovenia while Austria border guards try to keep control of the situation.

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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Immigrants arrive by train en route to the Slovenia border, where they hope to cross into Austria.

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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Immigrants arrive at the border of Germany and Austria, where they are processed before boarding trains to points throughout the country. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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A young Afghan girl is lifted off the train after arriving at the border of Slovenia and Austria. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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A woman gets off the train with a child as migrants arriving from the Croatian border walk from the train station to the Slovenia border where they will cross into Austria.

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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Immigrants arrive at the German border, where they are processed before boarding trains to points throughout the country.

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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Immigrants arrive by train at the border of Slovenia and Austria, which is guarded by Slovenian police and soldiers in the town of Spielfeld.

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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Abdul Rahman, a Syrian immigrant from Aleppo, tries to get into a holding area with his family of 12 at the last stop in Austria before crossing into Germany.

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

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Immigrants arriving from the Croatian border walk from the train station to the Slovenia border, where they will cross into Austria.

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

By Associated Press

Dec. 2, 2015 10 AM PT

Reporting from BUDAPEST, Hungary —

The European Union’s police agency said Wednesday that 23 suspects were arrested in raids targeting an organized crime gang that smuggled thousands of migrants into Europe.

Europol said the suspects were detained in simultaneous police operations in Greece, Austria, Sweden and Britain. Europol, which helped coordinate the raids, said the gang is believed to have earned nearly $10.5 million by smuggling about 100 migrants per day since operations started in 2013.

The suspects included mainly Syrians and Greeks. The alleged ringleader was arrested in the British city of Liverpool. None of their identities have been released.

Europol said the gang is believed to have smuggled migrants, most of them Syrians arriving from Turkey, through Greece and then via the Balkans to other EU member states. The gang did everything from arranging transport to supplying forged travel documents, authorities said.

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