BERLIN (AP) — German police carried out a major raid early Wednesday morning against a group of suspected smugglers, according to German news agency dpa.
Some 400 agents, including the federal police and the special units of the GSG 9, searched more than 20 apartments and offices, mainly in Berlin but also in the east of the Land of Saxony-Anhalt.
Five men were arrested, including four in Berlin and one in the city of Halle, while 12 other suspects were under investigation, dpa said.
The group has been accused of bringing at least 90 people to Germany, most of them from Turkey and Iraq. Each would have spent several thousand euros.
The migrants were arriving from Istanbul by plane to the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo. From there they continued their journey to Germany by car via the so-called Balkan route. Some of them were discovered in apartments that police raided on Wednesday.
The suspects were mostly Turkish or German citizens, police said.