Police from five countries have collaborated to disrupt a far-reaching criminal network involved in smuggling migrants from Cuba to the EU via Serbia and North Macedonia, Europol announced on July 24.

The operation, coordinated with Interpol, resulted in the arrest of 62 individuals, including 25 Cuban nationals.

According to Serbian broadcaster RTS, two Serbian citizens were among those arrested.

Europol said in a statement that the migrant smuggling network targeted vulnerable Cuban citizens by exploiting their dire circumstances. Using a well-known messaging application, the criminals advertised their illicit services, offering to organise trips and transfers, and provide false documentation for a sum of approximately €9,000.

Taking advantage of the absence of visa requirements for Cubans to enter Serbia at the time, the smugglers flew their clients to Serbia, after which they were secretly transported to Greece via North Macedonia. From Greece, the migrants were then flown into Spain, successfully entering the European Union illegally.

Europol estimates that this criminal network managed to smuggle around 5,000 Cuban nationals into the EU, amassing a profit of approximately €45mn.

In June 2023, a coordinated action day with the involvement of police officers from Spain, Greece and Serbia resulted in the seizure of numerous criminal assets. Among the confiscated items were hundreds of forged documents and forgery equipment, 18 pieces of real estate, 33 vehicles and a total of 144 bank accounts.

Additionally, police seized significant amounts of cash in various currencies.

The investigation leading to this operation began in October 2021, following reports from authorities from Serbia, Greece, North Macedonia and Finland regarding an influx of Cuban citizens attempting to enter Europe using falsified documents.

Initially, the smuggling route involved Cuban nationals flying commercially to Russia. However, due to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, the smuggling route underwent a significant change. Instead of going through Russia, Cuban nationals were flown to Serbia via Frankfurt airport in Germany.

Once in Serbia, members of the criminal network facilitated their irregular entry into North Macedonia and Greece by land. The journey was perilous, with smugglers leading large groups of migrants through various routes, often making them walk for hours in the dark without supplies. The migrants, already in vulnerable situations, were subject to scams, robberies and extortion by the criminals while some women were transferred to other criminal groups for sexual exploitation, Europol said.

Upon reaching Greece, the migrants either applied for asylum or were transported to other EU countries, such as Spain or Italy, by the criminals. To enable their travel within the EU, the network provided the migrants with forged documents or employed the "lookalike" method.

Europol stated that ministries of internal affairs of Serbia, Germany, Spain, Greece and North Macedonia participated in breaking up the criminal network.