17 arrests

Styrian police break up smuggling gang

This vehicle belonging to the smuggling band was also seized by the police.(Bild: LPD Steiermark)

Success for the Austrian police in the fight against the international smuggling mafia: Styrian officers were able to track down and arrest 17 suspects who brought around 500 people to Austria illegally.

The incident last summer caused quite a stir: The driver of a van with a German license plate had a chase with the local police on the highway from Ilz to Mooskirchen. The man could only be stopped after 60 kilometers; the van contained a total of 26 people who had entered the country illegally. 

Extensive investigations by the Ilz-FGP immigration police led to further findings and ultimately to arrests. The gang of 17 suspects is suspected of organizing a total of 26 smuggling trips from Hungary to Austria between June and October 2023 alone. Around 500 people are said to have been brought into the country illegally.

The highlight of the operation was the arrest of five suspects, according to the police members of the middle and highest management level of the gang, in southern Burgenland at the beginning of October. Two high-priced escort vehicles were also seized from the Arab group of perpetrators. Investigations into other suspects and those behind the crime are being continued together with the public prosecutor's offices in Graz and Vienna. A first main hearing at the Graz Regional Criminal Court has already been scheduled for the beginning of February 2024.