The Salzburg public prosecutor has accused six Syrians of smuggling. The men, aged between 23 and 32, are said to have been members of a gang of ten smugglers who smuggled at least 212 people to and through Austria from September to November 2022. According to the investigation, 600 euros were collected per refugee. A total fee of 2379 euros and a tractor vehicle were seized.
Five of the accused are in custody in the Salzburg prison, as the spokeswoman for the Salzburg public prosecutor’s office, Elena Haslinger, informed on Thursday. The gang members are said to have divided the tasks among themselves and to have smuggled the refugees who had been brought to Austria by other smugglers. According to the public prosecutor’s office, they bought the people concerned train tickets, accompanied them on the journeys or brought them to means of transport and procured accommodation for them. One of the accused is said to have been responsible for the “tugging of stages” in Austria as a supervisor. Two other defendants are suspected of having acted as clients. They are said to have brought their accomplices to Hungary and made tractor vehicles and financial resources available. In some cases, they themselves took on the role of drivers and watchdogs. House searches and telephone surveillance Extensive investigations by the State Criminal Police Office in Upper Austria in cooperation with the Salzburg public prosecutor’s office led to the arrest of the gang members. The officials evaluated call and location data from the suspects’ mobile phones and searched seven apartments – including arrests. Other suspects are still at large. The whereabouts of two gang members are currently unknown. They are wanted. A suspect who lives in Upper Austria is at large in Austria, as Haslinger explained. Another suspect is in Germany and the German authorities are investigating him. A suspect is currently in custody in Hungary.
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