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Chinese Triads And Italian Mafia Running The Irish PPL Smuggling

Two Aer Lingus staff among three arrested at Dublin Airport over alleged people smuggling

THREE PEOPLE arrested in connection with alleged smuggling of illegal immigrants through Dublin Airport are to appear in court tomorrow morning.

Two of the men arrested are Aer Lingus employees. The third was a suspected illegal immigrant. Gardaí suspect the two Aer Lingus workers were facilitating this man’s illegal entry into the state.

The arrests of the three men (aged 61, 56 and 28) took place at the airport last night in an operation carried out by the Garda Immigration Bureau (GNIB) assisted by the Garda Special Detective Unit (SDU).

The three men are currently detained at Ballymun and Coolock garda stations.

Speaking to reporters on Monday afternoon, Assistant Commissioner John O’Driscoll said gardaí have searched a number of premises and vehicles as part of the investigation.

They are working to identify how many occasions in the past this may have taken place. He said gardaí investigating this incident were analysing a “considerable amount of data”.

Illegal immigrants were disguised as Aer Lingus workers so they could be smuggled through Dublin Airport in a global people smuggling scam that netted gangsters up to €12m.

Two male Aer Lingus employees, aged 61 and 56, and a Chinese national (28) were being quizzed by gardai last night following a major sting operation on Sunday, when an Aer Lingus flight landed in Dublin from Madrid.

More arrests are expected in the investigation, which is said to involve a number of dangerous international gangs.

A massive garda investigation has found that up to 600 people may have been smuggled into the country at an estimated cost of around €20,000 per person as part of the scam.

The Herald has learned the extent of the smuggling operation recently came to light after a man who entered Ireland illegally attempted to leave on a flight to another EU country.

Authorities noticed there was no official record of the individual entering the country, and a criminal probe was launched into the smuggling of people taking place at Ireland’s main airport.

“This raised a red flag and the Garda National Immigration Bureau launched a major surveillance operation at the airport,” a senior source said.

Diverted

Gardai have discovered the illegal immigrants arrived on Aer Lingus flights from European destinations and then left the plane with other passengers.

While walking with other passengers in the airport, they would be diverted away by criminals involved in the scam before they reached immigration and customs checks at the airport.

The operation would see them taken to a secure area of the airport and they would be given uniforms and high-visibility jackets to disguise them as Aer Lingus employees.

The non-nationals were then driven from airside to landside in Aer Lingus vehicles such as catering vans and trucks.

Gardai have established that the immigrants were then dropped at a location north of the airport, where they were picked up by associates.

Sources say gardai believe that about 100 illegal immigrants a year came into the country this way and that the scam had been in operation for around six years.

It is understood that most of the people smuggled into the country came from Asian countries, particularly China, and many left here for other EU countries shortly after arriving.

Gardai believe a network of international crime gangs are involved in the scam and these include Italian gangs, Eastern European mobs and even Chinese crime groupings.

iItelligence

“While there are two gentlemen arrested after Sunday night’s sting operation, gardai are in no doubt that there were many other people involved in this criminal operation both in Ireland and abroad,” a senior source said.

“Expect more arrests to follow,” the source added.

Sunday’s arrests stemmed from an intelligence-led operation, which a senior garda said is possible as a result of civilian staff being placed at passport control.

Assistant Garda Commissioner John O’Driscoll said yesterday: “In recent times there has been a reconfiguration of personnel working the immigration control at Dublin Airport, which has involved an input of civilian staff attached to Irish Naturalisation and Immigration control booths.

“We have arrested three people, two of whom are employees of a carrier of passengers. One person is a potential illegal immigrant, who illegally entered the state, who was facilitated by our two suspects.”

How combating the mafia helped Italy fight ISIS:

How combating the mafia helped Italy fight ISIS:  Surveillance techniques and the help of organised crime are keeping extremists at bay, claim experts

  • Marco Lombardi believes Italian authorities are applying same methods to tackling terrorism as organised crime
  • He also told The Times that the mafia does not want ISIS operating in Italy
  • Berlin truck terrrorist Anis Amri was yesterday gunned down in Milan
  • It is not yet clear why he had travelled to Italy after Monday’s atrocity 

 

Italy’s battle against the mafia could be helping authorities tackle extremists – and organised criminals could be keeping ISIS at bay, it is claimed.

Yesterday Berlin truck killer Anis Amri was shot dead after opening fire on two police officers at around 3am in Milan.

When he was approached in the Sesto San Giovanni suburb, the officers had no idea they were dealing with Europe’s most wanted man.

Yesterday Marco Lombardi, a terrorism expert at the Catholic University in Milan, told The Times: ‘It’s no surprise that a new police unit has recently been formed in Italy which fights both the mafia and terrorism, bringing together officers who share surveillance techniques.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4063764/How-combating-mafia-helped-Italy-fight-ISIS-Surveillance-techniques-help-organised-crime-keeping-extremists-bay-claim-experts.html#ixzz4UI1vndo6
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Venezuela closes border with Colombia ‘to destroy mafia’

Venezuela has closed its border with Colombia for 72 hours in the latest measure to combat smuggling gangs.

President Nicolas Maduro says the “mafia” operating in border areas is causing huge damage to the economy.

Many items subsidised by Venezuela’s socialist government, including diesel and petrol, are sold at a huge profit over the border in Colombia.

On Sunday, he announced that the country’s highest denomination bank note would be taken out of circulation.

‘Destroy the mafia’

President Maduro said the move would stop gangs hoarding the currency.

“Let’s destroy the mafia before the mafias destroy our country and our economy,” he said on national television.

“This measure was inevitable, it was necessary,” he added. “The mafias will go bust.”

Venezuela last closed most border crossings with Colombia in August 2015. The border was partially reopened a year later.

In 2015, the Colombian government complained that it had not been consulted or informed.

Full Read – http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-38297927

Fake U.S. embassy run by mafia in Ghana shut down after decade

ACCRA, Ghana, Dec. 5 (UPI) — The U.S. Department of State said a fake U.S. Embassy in Ghana that issued illegally obtained legitimate visas for over 10 years was shut down.

The fraudulent enterprise, housed in a pink, two-story building in the capital of Accra, also issued counterfeit visas, and other false identification documents. The business operated three days a week and the fake consular officers who worked there were Turkish citizens who spoke English and Dutch.

“It was not operated by the United States government, but by figures from both Ghanaian and Turkish organized crime rings and a Ghanaian attorney practicing immigration and criminal law,” the State Department said in a statement. “For about a decade it operated unhindered; the criminals running the operation were able to pay off corrupt officials to look the other way, as well as obtain legitimate blank documents to be doctored.”

The operation was shut down during the summer after an informant gave a tip an investigator. Customers who bought the fraudulent services paid about $6,000. The State Department did not disclose how many people may have entered the United States illegally using documents issued by the fake embassy.

Visas and passports from 10 different countries were found during raids on the building. Several suspects were arrested.

“The fake embassy did not accept walk-in visa appointments; instead, they drove to the most remote parts of West Africa to find customers,” the State Department said. “Several suspects remain at large, but Ghanaian police have warrants for their arrest and plan to pursue them. The investigation and search for the Turkish organized crime group is ongoing.”

EU Police Agency: 314 Arrested in Organized Crime Raids

  • By MIKE CORDER, ASSOCIATED PRESS

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Oct 19, 2016, 8:40 AM

Police and other law enforcement organizations around the world cooperated in a massive weeklong operation targeting organized crime that led to 314 arrests, the seizure or 2.4 tons of cocaine and interception of hundreds of migrants, European Union police agency Europol announced Wednesday.

Law enforcement teams in 52 countries, supported by organizations including Interpol and EU border agency Frontex, took part in the series of interlinked raids and investigations that also focused on cybercrime and airline ticket fraud.

“The results are pretty impressive, I think, in terms of the number of arrests,” Europol Director Rob Wainwright told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “I’m especially happy with the impact on trafficking human beings and the number of potential victims that we identified.”

Europol said the operation intercepted 745 migrants and identified 529 victims of human trafficking.

Wainwright said that the multi-agency operation involving nations around the world is an effective way of tackling modern organized crime networks.

“Crime is becoming more cross-border and criminal networks are becoming more agile at operating in different criminal markets simultaneously,” he said.

Another focus was airline fraud and police detained 193 people suspected of traveling using tickets bought with stolen or fake credit cards.

Such fraud costs the aviation industry an estimated $1 billion a year, Europol said. Wainwright said that there are vital security implications, too.

“We cannot allow anyone, in particular serious criminals and terrorists, to travel around the world anonymously and to endanger others,” he said in a statement.

Among other raids, Greek police discovered a fake travel agency that was facilitating migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings, while in Austria police raiding a brothel also discovered a cannabis plantation, triggering a new investigation.

Sourced From – http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/eu-police-agency-314-arrested-organized-crime-raids-42900532