Europol establishes specialized center to combat migrant smuggling

Europol has established a new specialized Center against Migrant Smuggling (ECAMS) which, through financial investigations and analysis of files and intelligence, should enable the dismantling of entire smuggling networks and their logistical infrastructure.

ECAMS will provide member states with concrete operational, technical and forensic support in dismantling smuggling networks, the EU police agency said.

The work of ECAMS will, as stated, be primarily focused on databases, expertise based on publicly available intelligence, operational analysis, and strategic and operational fieldwork.

"By combining data from member states and partners, and using advanced analytical tools, ECAMS will enable investigators to map criminal networks, identify accomplices and prioritize the most risky targets," the statement reads.

Europol reminds that the activities of migrant smugglers cross continents and are increasingly present online, where they recruit collaborators, advertise their criminal services and lure migrants on life-threatening journeys that cost those who undertake them thousands of euros.

Europol Director Catherine de Bolle said that migrant smuggling networks are becoming increasingly complex and rely on a multi-layered financial infrastructure, including "an underground banking system through which they move and conceal their criminal profits."

Europol said in a statement that according to current knowledge, smugglers charge up to 20.000 euros to smuggle a person from their home country to a third country.

"For example, migrants would pay up to 15.000 euros per person to be smuggled from Iran to Germany, the Netherlands or the UK. Smugglers were taking 13.000 euros to take migrants to Germany via the Western Balkans route," the statement said.

The new approach, Europol says, therefore strengthens the focus on financial investigations, freezing and confiscating criminal assets, and disrupting the business models behind migrant smuggling, making it more difficult for smugglers to operate, expand, and invest.

At the same time, in line with the EU's efforts to intensify dialogue with all countries through which smuggling routes pass, due to the cross-border nature of this type of crime, ECAMS will strengthen coordination with EU member states and international partners so that the prosecution of criminals is coordinated along these routes.