Algerian authorities have dismantled an international network smuggling migrants to Europe via Algeria, local media reported Wednesday.
And the Central Authority for Combating Organized Crime in Algeria arrested 15 members of this network, nine Syrians and six Algerians, who appeared before the courts on Wednesday.
The investigation, which lasted five months, allowed the Algerian police to trace the network that transported migrants from Syria and Lebanon to Benghazi airport in Libya, according to An-Nahar Online.
After that, the migrants were transported by land to the Libyan city of Ghadames, from where they were secretly smuggled to Algeria through the border city of Debdab, using winding desert roads, according to the media.
The members of this network were later seeking to ensure the transfer of migrants to the city of Oran in western Algeria, where people who intend to migrate illegally to Europe meet, according to An-Nahar Online.
Migrants were required to pay “exorbitant” amounts of cash to get to Europe.
During this operation, the authorities seized more than $11,000 and 8,920 euros, in addition to sums in Lebanese and Syrian pounds.