This year, one of Europol’s goals has been to identify and dismantle the most dangerous criminal networks active in the EU, such as mafia, ethnic, and family organizations, and other structured networks involved in human trafficking, the organization reported.
Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina participated in a large international operation named “Global Chain,” with local law enforcement assisting Europol in executing this action.
Between June 3 and 9, 39 countries worldwide participated in the EMPACT days of joint action against human trafficking. Led by Austria and together with Romania, Europol, Frontex, and Interpol, the operation named “Global Chain” resulted in the arrest of 219 individuals and the identification of over 1,374 victims, including 153 children.
With the aim of breaking down high-risk criminal networks, the action week focused on cases of sexual exploitation, forced criminality, and forced begging, Europol stated.
The results of these joint action days have reached not only the authorities but also many other external actors who could play a role in reducing the number of victims of human trafficking.
In addition to combating child trafficking and the most dangerous criminal networks, this international law enforcement effort saw several targeted hotspots against human trafficking worldwide, including actions in Latin America, Asia, Africa, as well as countries of the Eastern Partnership and Ukraine.
During worldwide inspections, officers systematically looked for signs of human trafficking and counterfeit documents, then immediately arrested perpetrators and protected victims.
The inspections also initiated several new investigations. To facilitate cross-checking of data and enable information exchange among participants, a coordination center was established at the Frontex headquarters in Warsaw, Poland. Together with experts from each country, Frontex, Europol, and Interpol staff helped coordinate major actions supported by the EU4FAST project.
In a particularly harrowing case, officers from the Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg Police Department arrested a Hungarian couple for forcing their six children into sex and begging on the street.
- The minor children were physically, mentally, and sexually abused by their own parents, who attacked them with sticks, belts, and bare hands. Officials found the children neglected, malnourished, and in overall poor health condition. Tied up in a room in the household, the parents offered their children to others in the neighborhood for sex in exchange for money. Judicial, medical, and psychological experts involved in confirming the sexual abuse and testifying to the traumatized children have since placed them in foster care, Europol reported.
Officers from the Hungarian National Bureau for Investigating Trafficking in Human Beings were deployed to Austria for joint police checks with members of the Austrian Criminal Intelligence Service and Provincial Criminal Police Departments.
Teams conducted targeted checks at “red light” establishments, focusing on Hungarian sex workers. Europol also financially supported this staff exchange.
Officers from the Galati Brigade for Combating Organized Crime of the Romanian police arrested a suspect for recruiting minor victims from disadvantaged environments, forcing them into begging and sexual exploitation.
The trafficker, who controlled his victims through physical violence, kept the collected revenue. During the raid conducted as part of the action, police gathered additional evidence and questioned suspects and victims. At one of the searched locations, police officers found and seized various drugs.
Source: RTRS
