Romanian Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime implemented 9 warrants in order to dismantle an organized criminal group specialized in migrant smuggling

An investigation conducted established that, during 2024, several individuals (Romanian and Sri Lankan citizens) initiated a pyramid-type organized criminal group, aiming to obtain substantial material benefits from migrant trafficking. 

The organized crime group acted both before Romania’s accession to the Schengen area and afterwards, on several levels, namely recruiting and transporting migrants of Asian origin (especially from Sri Lanka) in Romania with a work visa and preparing them for boarding means of transport to fraudulently cross the country’s border to Western Europe.

For each migrant, the members of the organized criminal group received between 2,000 and 5,000 euros, the amounts acquired in this way being subsequently divided among them, depending on the position held in the group’s hierarchy and the degree of involvement in criminal activity.

The hearings are held at the headquarters of the Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism – Central Structure.

The action benefits from the support of police officers from the Vâlcea, Sibiu and Gorj Organized Crime Combating Services and gendarmes from the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Gendarmerie.