- Border guards from the Territorial Inspectorate of the Sighetu Marmației Border Police, together with the Austrian authorities, documented and finalized the activities carried out for the destructuring of an organized crime group specialized in illegal migration;
- The coordinator of the group is a Romanian, aged 28, with a criminal record since he was a minor;
- More than 250 traffickers from Serbia, Ukraine, Estonia, Lithuania, Turkey, Romania and other countries were active in the network, most of them being guides who drove vehicles through predetermined areas;
- In less than a half, the group trafficked over 36,000 illegal migrants on the Hungary-Austria route, respectively Hungary-Slovakia-Czech Republic-Austria;
- Earnings from migrant trafficking exceed 150,000,000 euros, the cost of a transfer being, on average, over 4,000 euros per migrant;
- During the search carried out by the border police in Sighet, at one of the Romanian group members, 27 cars were identified, possibly used for transporting migrants on the territory of Hungary and Austria.
On 12.05.2022, in the presence of the Romanian Ambassador to Vienna and the operational team of the Romanian Border Police, the Federal Minister of Interior Gerhard Karner presented the results obtained in the dismantling of an important migrant trafficking network coordinated by a Romanian citizen and thanked Romanian authorities for the professionalism shown in documenting this case.
The involvement of the Romanian border guards started in July 2021, when, at the level of the Maramureș Border Police, under the coordination of the Prosecutor's Office attached to the Maramureș Tribunal, a criminal case was registered regarding migrant trafficking. Following the specific activities carried out by the border police, it was established that several Romanian citizens carry out activities of guiding, transporting and sheltering migrants of Afro-Asian origin on the territory of the states of Hungary and Austria.
As the persons involved were coordinating all criminal activity in Austria, the issues arising from the documentation of the criminal case were forwarded to the competent authorities in Austria through the Center for International Police Cooperation (ICCP) and the Office of the Home Office.
Following the activities carried out in cooperation with the Austrian police, several people from the Republic of Moldova, Romania, Ukraine, Serbia, Estonia, Lithuania, Turkey and other states were identified as part of the group.
The group was coordinated by a 28-year-old Romanian citizen, with a criminal record since he was a minor, wanted internationally, with a warrant for pre-trial detention in 3 states, namely Romania, Hungary and Austria for trafficking in migrants.
The Austrian authorities have established that more than 250 traffickers have been active in the network, most of them guides, driving cars through predetermined areas. In Austria alone, more than 90 members of the group were detained in co-operation between Lower Austria and Burgenland police structures and the Romanian, Czech and Hungarian authorities.
Following the evidence administered, the Austrian authorities issued several arrest warrants, including Romanian citizens.
Thus, on 04.05.2022, the main suspect and the coordinator of the group were detained in Floresti, Cluj County, by police officers from the Romanian Police.
On 06.05.2022, another member of the group was found by the border police in Sighetu Marmației, where a house search warrant was subsequently executed. A number of 27 cars have been identified at his home and are reasonably suspected of being used to transport migrants in Hungary and Austria.
The Austrian authorities reported that members of the group transferred, more than 36,000 illegal migrants on the route Hungary-Austria, respectively Hungary-Slovakia-Czech Republic-Austria during 2021 and early 2022.
