Europe

Migrant smuggling: 26 arrests, Interpol hunts for fugitives

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Rescue workers help migrants to disembark from a dinghy in the Mediterranean Sea, rescued by members of the aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and the rescue group SOS Mediterranee Rescuers of SOS Mediterranee, Thursday June 23, 2016. The humanitarian groups distribute life jackets to the migrants in distress on the Mediterranean Sea before taking them aboard the 'Aquarius' vessel. (AP Photo/Bram Janssen) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this April 23 2016 file photo, migrants and refugees line up for a milk distribution at a makeshift camp at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece. More than a million refugees and other migrants, who arrived on the Greek islands in smugglers' boats from Turkey, passed through Greece to Macedonia and other countries on the western Balkan corridor since the beginning of 2015. Police in an Interpol-led operation have arrested 26 people across several countries accused of involvement in migrant-smuggling — and the international police agency wants the public's help to find suspects still at large. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File) (The Associated Press)

Migrants aboard a dinghy in the Mediterranean Sea wait to be rescued by members of the aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and the rescue group SOS Mediterranee Rescuers of SOS Mediterranee, Thursday June 23, 2016. The humanitarian groups distribute life jackets to the migrants in distress on the Mediterranean Sea before taking them aboard the 'Aquarius' vessel. (AP Photo/Bram Janssen) (The Associated Press)

Police in an Interpol-led operation have arrested 26 people across several countries accused of involvement in migrant-smuggling — and the international police agency wants the public's help to find suspects still at large.

European police authorities say organized crime networks are playing a big role in Europe's migrant crisis, earning up to $6 billion in revenue last year by capitalizing on migrants' desperation.

Interpol said in a statement that those arrested in the 24-country operation in May include a Moroccan suspected of selling Belgian identity cards to Syrian migrants, and an Albanian group charging migrants 14,000 euros to travel across the English Channel by boat.

Interpol released appeals Thursday for help finding 11 other people from several countries accused of illegally smuggling Iraqis, Afghans and other migrants.