BUCHAREST: Romanian authorities have detained two Egyptian nationals and a Sudanese for allegedly smuggling more than 30 illegal immigrants into Europe, prosecutors said Monday.
The three were accused of assisting “more than 30 immigrants, the price paid by each person going up to $12,000 (€9,000),” according to a statement from the prosecutor’s office.
The alleged leader of the network was Sudanese Mohamed Al Tayeb who worked with Egyptians Fathy Ibrahim Barghout Mohamed and Ahmed Fahmi Ahmed Hefni Elian Ahmed, the statement said.
The ring helped eight Afghans to enter Romania illegally on Nov. 24, it said. They intended to continue on to western Europe before they were stopped in two cars.
German authorities assisted in the investigation, the statement said.
The three accused were detained and prosecutors asked that they be held for 29 days.
On Monday prosecutors handling organized crime and terrorism cases announced they had also dismantled a network that enabled Kurdish immigrants to travel illegally from Turkey into Austria and Germany.
