Daily Times

LYON: Interpol called on Thursday for public help to track down scores of human traffickers wanted around the world, accused of profiting from the desperation of migrants determined to reach Europe.

“People smuggling is a global issue, which is why international cooperation through operations such as Hydra are essential,” said Michael O’Connell, Interpol’s director of operational support, in a statement. The operation, known as Infra Hydra, involves 44 countries as well as the EU police agency Europol.

The operation targeting 180 fugitives sought by 31 countries has so far made 26 arrests and located 31 other suspects. The international police organisation based in the French city of Lyon identified 10 most-wanted suspects who are especially difficult to locate, an Interpol spokeswoman told AFP.

“There’s a lot of work to be done behind the scenes. We’re hoping for good results,” she said. Among the key suspects are a Romanian woman whose operatives smuggled people into Austria charging them as much as 3,000 euros ($3,400), and the Azerbaijani former head of passenger screening at Baku airport accused of providing counterfeit airline tickets.

All are internationally wanted fugitives, Interpol said. The organisation said it has already nabbed a Moroccan national suspected of providing false Belgian identity papers to three Syrian refugees, charging them each about 12,000 euros. Another is a Serb suspected of belonging to a trafficking ring that smuggled 25 migrants from Serbia to Hungary.

An Albanian crime group that smuggled refugees between France and Britain, with services costing upwards of 14,000 euros a person, has also been located and many of its members arrested.