The police carried out, on Monday, 69 home searches in a case regarding the establishment of an organized criminal ring and migrant smuggling, and also as many summonses for questioning at the headquarters of DIICOT (Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism) – Timisoara Territorial Service.

The searches are taking place in the counties of Timis, Mehedinti, Dolj, Caras-Severin, Arges, Ilfov, Teleorman, Arad, Dambovita, Sibiu, Constanta, Ialomita and Bucharest, according to a press release of the Timis Police.

The investigation showed that during 2023, several individuals (foreign citizens) allegedly formed a group specialized in migrant trafficking, which was joined by several Romanian citizens, with their main purpose to fraudulently introduce groups of migrants into the country, by illegally crossing them the Danube River and, then, removing them from the country, also illegally, through the Western border.

The police say that the organized criminal group acted on several levels, by recruiting groups of migrants on the territory of Turkey and preparing them for the purpose of boarding the means of transport for their fraudulent introduction into Bulgaria, then into Romania.

Subsequently, the migrants were transported to shelter locations in the municipality of Timisoara, where they stayed until opportunities were identified for their boarding on road vehicles, with the purpose of their illegal removal from the country.

According to the same source, between June and December 2024, 136 such transport means were detected and stopped, totaling approximately 1,000 foreign citizens of Afro-Asian origin.

The action is carried out by the Police of the Timisoara Organized Crime Combating Brigade – Human Trafficking Combating Service with the support of the organized crime combatting brigades of Craiova, Pitesti, Constanta, Oradea, Alba, Bucharest and the organized crime combatting services of Mehedinti, Caras-Severin, Arad, Ilfov, Teleorman, Dambovita, Sibiu and Ialomita, the General Inspectorate of the Border Police, the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Gendarmerie, the „Glad Voievod” Mobile Gendarmerie Group in Timisoara, the criminologists of the Timis County Police Inspectorate, as well as the fighters from the Timis Special Actions Service.

AGERPRES