Thousands of victims have been rescued and hundreds of suspects arrested in Interpol’s biggest operation to tackle people trafficking and migrant smuggling, the global crime-fighting organisation has revealed.
The five-day operation has revealed the scale of the people movement across the globe and the misery of those exploited by organised crime gangs.
Interpol released details of the recent operation, named Operation Liberterra II, at its annual general assembly in Glasgow on Wednesday. Raids by law enforcement and other authorities led to the rescue of 3,222 potential victims of human trafficking and identified 17,793 irregular migrants, said Interpol.
During Operation Liberterra II, 2,517 arrests were made, 850 of which were specifically on human trafficking or migrant smuggling charges.
The action included:
- The rescue of 1,500 irregular migrants and the arrest of 94 suspected smugglers in Turkey.
- UK authorities arrested a 32-year-old Syrian man in Nottingham. He was wanted by Romania for illegally transporting migrants from Bulgaria to the country for onward travel to the Netherlands.
- Tunisian authorities intercepted 27 people, including 21 minors, attempting to travel to Britain under the pretence of a language study trip.
- Seven suspects were arrested in Algeria on money laundering charges in connection with organising migrant smuggling.
- Serbian police arrested 12 suspects linked to two organised criminal groups which enabled the journeys of at least 178 irregular migrants to Bosnia and Herzegovina, a common route for migrants from the Middle East.
- Authorities in Montenegro arrested 11 members of an organised group suspected of smuggling 350 migrants from Asia into the European Union. Police recovered cash, phones, vehicles, asylum documents and foreign passports.
Details of the Interpol operation come as 18 members of an Iraqi-Kurdish-led smuggling gang were sentenced to prison terms of up to 15 years by a court in Lille, France.
Richard Chambers, Interpol’s director of organised and emerging crime, told The National: “It's not a short game, so if any country thinks putting a certain number of people in jail is the end of it, they are kidding themselves,” he said.
“The reality is that organised crime groups operate a business model. You can take out some players, but you've got to keep out taking the players that then fill those gaps. When countries make arrests it often leads to the next thing. Through those investigations, we find another group operating.
“The gangs are always looking for new, better, faster and harder-to-detect means of doing stuff. Our role is to keep to pace with it.”
Interpol reported that the operation involved the monitoring of about 24,000 flights. Officers were also sent to known trafficking and smuggling hotspots, while about eight million checks were carried out against Interpol databases.
The organisation reported that Operation Liberterra II detected an increasing number of Asian migrants, particularly Vietnamese, in the Americas. But it said Venezuelan citizens were the largest group of irregular migrants reported by participating countries, with most moving to North America and other South American states.
Mr Chambers said he was “blown away by the results” that brought home to him the transnational nature of people trafficking and migrant smuggling.
“Liberterra allowed us to really shine a spotlight on what can be achieved in one week, and those results were more than what I was expecting but I think it points to the significance of the problem,” he said. “So what about 51 other weeks of the year?”
He said the transportation of humans across the globe “is a growing business and so it's our growing business”. He said: “The UK has seen this, Europe has seen this, America has seen this. So when, when there are challenges globally, what comes out of that is vulnerability, and organised crime groups will export that vulnerability.”
Interpol said that, as part of the operation, authorities in Syria identified a group of doctors suspected of organ trafficking. In Iraq, 25 people were arrested in connection with a trafficking ring involved in forced begging.
Officers also raided a warehouse in the Philippines where more than 250 people, mostly Chinese citizens, were running romance scams on an industrial scale. Officers are now examining seized devices and carrying out interviews to separate the potential victims of trafficking from members of the criminal enterprise.
“In their relentless pursuit of profit, organised crime groups continue to exploit men, women and children – often multiple times over,” said Jurgen Stock, the outgoing Interpol secretary general. “While still preliminary, the results of this operation highlight the vast scale of the challenge facing law enforcement, underscoring that only co-ordinated action can counteract these threats.”
What is Interpol?
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
SQUADS
South Africa:
JP Duminy (capt), Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock (wkt), AB de Villiers, Robbie Frylinck, Beuran Hendricks, David Miller, Mangaliso Mosehle (wkt), Dane Paterson, Aaron Phangiso, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Tabraiz Shamsi
Bangladesh
Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Imrul Kayes, Liton Das (wkt), Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim (wkt), Nasir Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Shafiul Islam, Soumya Sarkar, Taskin Ahmed
Fixtures
Oct 26: Bloemfontein
Oct 29: Potchefstroom
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Wednesday and the pair embraced but he failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
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Price: From Dh149,900
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)
Power: 141bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: Dh64,500
On sale: Now
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Spare
Profile
Company name: Spare
Started: March 2018
Co-founders: Dalal Alrayes and Saurabh Shah
Based: UAE
Sector: FinTech
Investment: Own savings. Going for first round of fund-raising in March 2019
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
Biography
Favourite drink: Must have karak chai and Chinese tea every day
Favourite non-Chinese food: Arabic sweets and Indian puri, small round bread of wheat flour
Favourite Chinese dish: Spicy boiled fish or anything cooked by her mother because of its flavour
Best vacation: Returning home to China
Music interests: Enjoys playing the zheng, a string musical instrument
Enjoys reading: Chinese novels, romantic comedies, reading up on business trends, government policy changes
Favourite book: Chairman Mao Zedong’s poems
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
On the menu
First course
▶ Emirati sea bass tartare Yuzu and labneh mayo, avocado, green herbs, fermented tomato water
▶ The Tale of the Oyster Oyster tartare, Bahraini gum berry pickle
Second course
▶ Local mackerel Sourdough crouton, baharat oil, red radish, zaatar mayo
▶ One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Quail, smoked freekeh, cinnamon cocoa
Third course
▶ Bahraini bouillabaisse Venus clams, local prawns, fishfarm seabream, farro
▶ Lamb 2 ways Braised lamb, crispy lamb chop, bulgur, physalis
Dessert
▶ Lumi Black lemon ice cream, pistachio, pomegranate
▶ Black chocolate bar Dark chocolate, dates, caramel, camel milk ice cream
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
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