Raids were carried out in several German states on Wednesday (April 17) and Thursday (April 18). Over 1,000 police officers and prosecutors were involved, reported the German weekly newspaper Die Zeit.

A German police press release said that over 1,000 officers and prosecutors took part in raids on Wednesday, and around 600 officials in raids on Thursday.

Raids were carried out in the states of North Rhine Westphalia, Bavaria, Baden Württemberg, Berlin, Hamburg, Hesse, Rhineland Palatinate, and the northern region of Schleswig Holstein, on the border with Denmark, reported Germany's state broadcaster ARD in its news bulletin.

On Thursday, most of the raids took place in Germany's most populous state, North Rhine Westphalia (NRW). Raids were carried out in 116 locations on that day, confirmed a spokesperson from the Federal Police (Bundespolizei), and began at 6am in the morning.

Most of the locations raided reportedly were private residences.

10 suspects arrested on Wednesday

On Wednesday, the authorities carried out searches on 101 properties and arrested 10 suspects while concentrating on securing evidence for any upcoming trials, as well as issuing further arrest warrants.

A press release from NRW's federal police stated that officers seized almost 1 million euros in cash during the coordinated raids.

On Thursday, they carried out further raids to try and find people who they suspected might have used smuggling routes, and to ascertain whether they actually lived at the addresses where they were allegedly registered.

They found at least three people suspected of having been smuggled.

On Thursday, authorities also seized more than 1.2 million euros in cash, in addition to three high-value cars and more than 300 mobile telephones, laptops and hard discs. The investigators also picked up almost 600 case files, which they will use as evidence in the case they are building.

Meanwhile, two legal practices were also searched on Wednesday, reported the French news agency Agence France Presse (AFP), as well as district offices where residence permits were issued.

38 suspected gang members investigated

In total, German investigators told journalists they were investigating 38 suspected gang members and 147 people who they suspect of having been smuggled via the network.

The chief suspects are two lawyers from the area near the city of Cologne, added the police spokesperson. ARD said that the two legal suspects were a man and a woman operating in the small town of Sankt Augustin, located between Bonn and Cologne.

They are suspected, reported ARD, of using their legal practice to help wealthier individuals apply for residence permits.

Residences meanwhile were searched in the towns of Bergheim, Bonn, Düren, Düsseldorf, Frechen, Hürtgenwald, Inden, Jülich, Kerpen, Köln, Kaarst, Linnich, Meerbusch, Merzenich, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Ratingen, Solingen and Swisttal, though investigators mostly concentrated on the area around Düren.

In that city, which is located not far from Aachen on the border with Belgium, they also arrested an employee of the local administration.

Gang believed to have contacts worldwide

According to German investigators, the suspected smuggling gang has contacts across the world, and had concentrated mostly on bringing richer individuals from China and Oman, as well as South Africa and India into Germany.

Investigators found that some of those suspected of being smuggled had paid from 30,000 euros to as much as 360,000 euros to obtain a German residence permit.

The money, said the state prosecutor Hendrik Timmer in Düsseldorf, was used to set up fake companies, finance the residences where some of the smuggled individuals were allegedly registered and also to issue fake wage payments.

The rest of the money is thought to have gone into the pockets of the suspected gang members. At least 210,000 euros was seized as part of "evidence," reported ARD.

Those arrested are accused of being part of a gang and of the commercial smuggling of migrants, as well as of bribery and corruption of employees of German local authorities.

In Germany, if found guilty of migrant smuggling, suspects can be handed a prison sentence of up to 15 years.

Advertized on the internet

Investigators found that individuals who are suspected to have used the smuggling route had found out about the alleged scam via the internet, where a so-called residency program was being advertised.

In the adverts, Germany's health and education system was put front and center, and German citizenship was promised. The program said it could use 'special rules' of the residency act for self-employed and skilled workers to obtain German residency for those who could afford to pay.

According to AFP, residence permits were allegedly issued in four different districts in Germany, including in the NRW cities of Kerpen and Solingen.

In 2022, reports ARD, German authorities investigated almost 5,000 suspected smuggling cases. The numbers of smuggling cases, they found, rose by 30 percent compared to the numbers of cases in the year before.

German authorities found that the suspected smugglers were "very professional" and also "flexible" with their methods.

Police chief Olaf Sacherer, who led the raids and is part of the criminal investigations unit in Cologne, described the raids as a "huge success." He added, that the authorities would "maintain the pressure on the unscrupulous smuggling gangs."

Investigations continue, stated the police press release.

With AFP