12.03.24 – 13 victims of human trafficking safeguarded in Spain. Europol has supported the Spanish National Police (Policía Nacional) and the Polish Border Guard (Straż Graniczna) in an operation targeting a criminal organisation trafficking human beings for the purposes of sexual and labour exploitation in Spain. The investigation has resulted in 17 arrests and the safeguarding of 13 victims. The suspects were arrested in Madrid, Palma, Barcelona and Poland during an action day on 14 November 2023. Seven house searches were also carried out, with six in Palma and one in Barcelona, leading to the seizure of electronic devices, documentation, and EUR 15 000 in cash.
14.03.24 – Time is up for criminal organisation counterfeiting luxury watches in Antwerp. Europol has supported a large-scale operation led by Belgian law enforcement authorities to dismantle an Israeli organised criminal group. The criminal organisation allegedly produced and imported counterfeit luxury watches and diamonds to Antwerp’s “Diamond District”. The successful operation led to the arrest of 15 suspects in Belgium (11), Israel (2), Netherlands (1) and Slovakia (1).
14.03.24 – Ali Omar Karim: Suspected Kurdish organised crime group leader charged with smuggling people to UK. A man suspected of being part of a Kurdish organised crime group involved in smuggling people to the UK in boats and HGVs, has been charged following a two-year investigation by the National Crime Agency. Ali Omar Karim, 45, said to be a ‘significant figure’ was arrested in the Kingston area on Wednesday morning (March 13) and remanded in custody. On Thursday, he was charged with people smuggling and money laundering offences before Portsmouth Magistrates.
14.03.24 – Hundreds rescued from love scam centre in the Philippines. Hundreds of people have been rescued from a scam centre in the Philippines that made them pose as lovers online. Police said they raided the centre on Thursday and rescued 383 Filipinos, 202 Chinese and 73 other foreign nationals. The centre, which is about 100km north of Manila, was masquerading as an online gambling firm, they said. Southeast Asia has become a hub for scam centres where the scammers themselves are often entrapped and forced into criminal activity.
15.03.24 – 42 arrested for smuggling migrants across the Danube. A cross-border investigation led by the Romanian Border Police (Poliția de Frontieră), supported by Europol and involving the Bulgarian General Directorate Combating Organised Crime (Главна Дирекция Борба с организираната престъпност) and the German Police (Bundespolizeiinspektion Waidhaus), has resulted in the dismantling of an organised crime group involved in migrant smuggling. The group were smuggling migrants from Bulgaria to Romania, across the Danube river, and then toward Western Europe.
